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HINTS  ON  TEACHING  FRENCH 


HINTS    ON 

TEACHING    FRENCH 


WITH  A  RUNNING  COMMENTARY 

TO    DENT'S    FIRST    AND    SECOND 

FRENCH    BOOKS 


WALTER    RIPMAN 


NEW    YORK 
E.    P.    DUTTON    Esf   CO. 


INTRODUCTION 


FIFTEEN  years  have  elapsed  since  the  first  edition  of  these 
Hints  appeared,  together  with  the  First  French  Book — the 
first  school  book  in  England  on  reform  lines,  written 
entirely  in  French. 

What  seemed  a  bold  venture  then,  and  was  exposed  to 
a  good  deal  of  adverse  criticism,  is  now  accepted  as 
"  orthodox."  The  principles  of  the  reform  movement  have 
been  universally  recognised  as  sound,  at  least  as  far  as 
the  early  stages  of  instruction  are  concerned.  I  have 
never  doubted  that  they  are  also  applicable  to  the  inter- 
mediate and  advanced  stages,  and  many  volumes  have 
been  added  to  this  Modern  Language  Series  which  testify 
to  my  faith.  Still,  I  confess  that  here  we  have  yet  a  good 
deal  of  work  to  do  ;  our  foremost  task  being  to  make  the 
external  examinations  more  reasonable.  The  University 
of  London  has  shown  the  way.  Its  Junior  Examination 
is  better  than  any  other,  and  the  regulations  for  the 
Senior  and  Matriculation  Examinations  have  recently 
been  changed  in  accordance  with  the  valuable  Report  on 
External  Examinations  issued  by  the  Modern  Language 
Association. 

In  this,  the  fifth,  edition  of  the  Hints  I  have  made  a 
number  of  changes  which  experience  showed  to  be  desir- 
able. The  discussion  of  method  has  been  supplemented 
by  the  mention  of  recent  additions  to  the  Series,  etc.,  and 
a  few  mistakes  have  been  corrected.  In  the  running 
commentary  the  references  have  been  changed  so  as  to 
apply  to  the  First  French  Book  in  its  present  form  (21st 
and  following  editions). 

I  was  tempted  to  extend  the  book  considerably  by 
dealing  at  length  with  the  teaching  of  French  after  the 
early  stages,  incorporating  the  substance  of  lectures  I  have 


vi  Introduction 

delivered  for  some  years  past  at  Queen's  College  and 
at  the  Ramsgate  Holiday  Course.  I  felt,  however,  that 
adequate  treatment  required  more  time  than  I  could  well 
spare.  I  hope  to  issue  a  book  on  the  subject  in  a  year  or 
two.  In  the  meanwhile  I  would  draw  the  attention  of 
teachers  to  the  growing  list  of  volumes  in  this  Series, 
which  now  contains  many  books  on  reform  lines  suitable 
for  Middle  and  Upper  Forms.  To  single  out  one  book, 
which  contains  a  wealth  of  material  on  French  life  and 
ways,  I  may  refer  to  Mr  Duhamel's  Tony  et  sa  Sceur,  because 
it  has  not  yet  attracted  all  the  notice  it  deserves. 

The  Hints,  then,  remain  a  handbook  for  the  teaching  of 
beginners  ;  but  the  underlying  principles  can  be  applied 
by  the  intelligent  teacher  to  subsequent  work.  A  classi- 
fied list  of  the  volumes  in  the  Modern  Language  Series 
will  be  found  on  pp.  129  and  foil.,  and  from  these  a  choice 
can  readily  be  made. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  recording  the  death  of  my 
honoured  friend,  Sines  Alge,  who  passed  away  since  the 
last  edition  of  the  Hints  appeared.  He  was  a  splendid 
son  of  Switzerland  —  vigorous,  upright,  transparently 
sincere.  In  the  very  front  rank  of  teachers,  a  true 
pioneer,  he  always  took  especial  interest  in  the  teaching 
of  languages  ;  and  as  a  Modern  Language  teacher  he  has 
most  strikingly  left  his  mark.  Few  school  books  have 
had  so  wide  a  circulation,  or  exerted  so  great  an  influence, 
as  the  First  French  Book,  which  in  its  earliest  form  was 
Alge's  Legons  de  Franpais  (1887)  ;  and  this  is  only  one — 
though  the  most  noteworthy — of  his  works.  His  books  on 
method  opened  my  eyes  to  the  importance  of  the  reform  ; 
and  I  owe  to  him  a  great  debt,  which  I  was  able  only  in 
part  to  repay. 

WALTER  RIPPMANN 

LONDON 

July  1913      - 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION              .           ,           ,           .  . 

HINTS  ON  TEACHING  FRENCH            .           .  . 

The  teacher's  object  ...  2 
Importance  of  vocabulary  ...  3 
The  '  dead '  method  ...  4 
The  '  translation '  method  ...  4 
The  '  living '  method  ...  5 
The  use  of  pictures  ...  5 
Its  advantages  ....  7 
Learning  words  and  forming  sentences  ,  9 
Applying  and  repeating  words  .  ,  11 
Grammar  .  .  •  .13 
Pronunciation  and  spelling  .  .  14 
Difficulties  of  English  Children  in  pro- 
nouncing French  .  .  .  17 
Transition  from  the  phonetic  to  the  ordi- 
nary spelling  ....  26 
The  Vocabulary  ....  30 
Class  Teaching  ....  33 
Words  and  Phrases  which  can  be  accom- 
panied by  Action  in  Class  .  .  35 


viii  Contents 

RUNNING  COMMENTARY — 

PAGE 

To  the  First  French  Book  ....          37 
To  the  Second  French  Book  ...          84 

A  CLASSIFIED  LIST  OF  BOOKS  FOR  THE  TEACHING  OF 
FRENCH  IN  DENT'S  MODERN  LANGUAGE  SERIES — 

Preliminary  Year  ;  First  Year       .  .  .129 

Second  Year  .  .  .  .  .130 

Intermediate  Stage  .  .  .  .131 

For  Older  Pupils    .....        133 
Dictionary;  Phonetics       ....         136 


HINTS  ON  TEACHING 
FRENCH 

The  principles  on  which  Dent's  First  and  Second  French 
Books  are  based  are  in  all  essential  points  identical 
with  those  advocated  ~by  the  Association  phonttique 
internationale,  by  Widgery  in  his  book  on  "The 
Teaching  of  Languages  in  Schools"  by  the  pioneers 
of  the  "  reform "  movement  in  Germany  ( Victor, 
Franke,  Walter,  etc.),  and  prescribed  by  the  French 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  for  the  teaching  of 
Modern  Languages. 

The  "  reform  "  in  Modern  Language  Teaching  now 
in  progress  is  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  events 
in  the  sphere  of  Teaching  since  the  Eenaissance, 
surpassing  in  importance  even  the  results  of  intro- 
ducing Science  to  the  school. 

Professor  FINDLAY,  Principles  of  Class  Teaching, 
p.  200. 

The  acquirement  of  a  living  language  as  a  direct 
instrument  of  thought  will  secure  that  everything 
which  is  now  learnt  will  be  learnt  the  more  thoroughly, 
and  that  boys  on  leaving  school  will  have  the  addi- 
tional advantage  of  being  able  to  converse  easily  and 
correctly  in  the  foreign  idiom. 

Dr  SPENCER,  Chapters  on  the  Aims  and  Practice  of 
Teaching,  p.  90. 


OUR  pupils'  object  in  learning  a  modern  language  is, 
in  the  first  place,  that  they  may  understand,  speak, 
and  write  it.  It  must  therefore  be  our  first  care  as 
teachers  to  enable  our  pupils  to  understand  it  and 
to  gain  some  fluency  in  the  use  of  it ;  and  we  begin 
by  acquainting  them  with  the  common  objects  of 
daily  life,  their  usual  surroundings.1  They  must 
learn  to  speak  about  them  in  simple  language,  it 
is  true,  but  without  effort.  This  is  our  guide  in 
selecting  the  vocabulary  which  they  are  to  acquire 
first;  and  in  the  beginning  we  avoid  what  is 
strange  to  the  mind  of  a  child,  as  well  as  what  is 
unusual  in  point  of  grammar.2  When  we  come,  for 

1  Ce  qu'il  faut  e"tudier  d'abord  dans  une  langue  e'trangere, 
ce  n'est  pas  le  langage  plus  ou  moins  archai'que  de  la  litera- 
ture, mais  le  langage  parle  de  tous  les  jours. — Association 
phon&ique  Internationale. 

a  Take  care  of  the  easy  things,  and  the  hard  ones  will  take 
care  of  themselves.  .  .  .  The  way  to  make  out  a  difficulty  is 
not  to  puzzle  at  it,  but  to  familiarise  yourself  with  those  parts 
which  you  do  understand,  till  they  gradually  throw  light  on 
the  more  obscure.  This  is  particularly  evident  in  the  learning 
of  languages.  If  men  could  but  be  persuaded  to  read  easy 
books  with  very  great  care  and  attention,  they  would  acquire 
such  a  knowledge  of  the  language  as  they  might  apply  with 
the  greatest  advantage  when  they  came  to  harder  ones.  .  .  . 
My  rule  will  apply  also  very  well  to  the  right  method  of 
learning  grammar. — Archbishop  Whateley. 


Hints  on  teaching  French  3 

instance,  to  the  first  case  of  an  "  irregular  "  feminine 
or  plural,  we  do  not  at  once  inflict  a  long  list  of 
"  exceptions "  on  the  child.  Let  the  instances  first 
occur  in  the  reading,  and  in  each  fresh  case  let  the 
pupil  recall  what  has  gone  before.  Care  must  be 
taken  that  the  stock  of  words  does  not  dwindle ; 
and  therefore  constant  repetition  is  essential. 

To  have  at  command  a  good  vocabulary  of  common 
words  is  the  surest  step  towards  an  intelligent  enjoy- 
ment and  appreciation  of  literature.  With  such  a 
vocabulary,  our  pupils  can  take  up  a  French  book 
and  read  it  with  the  same  ease  as  French  children. 


It  is  necessary  to  emphasise  strongly  that  common  words 
should  be  learnt  first,  and  those  aspects  of  life  considered  which 
are  of  like  interest  to  children  in  all  civilised  countries.  That 
broad  sympathy  with  other  nations  and  appreciation  of  what 
is  good  outside  our  native  country,  which  the  modern  language 
teacher  should  be  ever  anxious  to  foster,  will  spring  from  thus 
early  insisting  on  what  is  similar  ;  when  the  intellect  is  more 
matured  there  will  be  plenty  of  time  for  the  pupil  to  notice  and 
think  about  the  features  in  which  various  nations  differ  from 
each  other. 

It  was  suggested  by  Toussaint,  that  at  the  outset  such  words 
should  be  preferred  which  are  similar  in  the  two  languages  ; 
and  both  Dr  Spencer  and  Professor  Findlay  approve  of  this. 
There  is,  however,  a  grave  objection :  the  pupils  are  inclined 
to  approximate  them  still  more,  and  to  let  the  English  pro- 
nunciation influence  that  of  the  foreign  word.  Again,  the 
number  of  common  words  of  this  kind  is  fairly  large  if  we 
compare  English  and  German  ;  but  the  French  words  which 
resemble  English  words  in  most  cases  denote  abstractions,  or 
comparatively  unfamiliar  objects,  and  it  must  be  our  aim  first 
to  teach  words  which  denote  concrete  things  of  natural  interest 
to  the  child. 


4  Hints  on 

For  a  long  time  it  was  customary  to  teach  living 
languages  in  the  same  way  as  classics ;  we  may  call 
this  the  "  dead  "  method.  The  grammar  was  made 
the  centre  of  instruction ;  the  results  achieved  were 
not  satisfactory,  for  the  pupils  barely  succeeded  in 
reading  an  easy  text,  and  hardly  ever  learnt  to  express 
themselves  with  ease  either  in  speaking  or  writing. 
Moreover,  the  choice  of  books  was  seldom  made  to 
suit  the  child  mind ;  for  instance,  the  tragedies  of 
the  Louis  XIV.  period  were  put  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  were  far  from  possessing  the  literary 
training  necessary  for  a  proper  appreciation  of  these 
difficult  plays. 

An  intermediate  stage  is  represented  by  the 
*  translation '  method,  which  is  still  occasionally 
employed.  Here  the  instruction  is  based  entirely 
on  the  reading  book.  The  grammar  is  taught  in 
connection  with  it,  but  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
treatment  of  it  is  often  anything  but  systematic ;  nor 
is  sufficient  care  given  to  the  choice  of  a  suitable 
vocabulary.  Constant  translation  and  retranslation 
are  supposed  to  lead  to  the  desired  result  of  a 
thorough  command  of  the  language. 

Recent  developments  in  modern  language  teaching 
show  a  distinct  tendency  to  paying  great  attention 
to  the  spoken  language  in  the  first  place.  Instead 
of  connecting  an  object  with  the  English  word  and 
then  translating  it  into  its  foreign  equivalent,  the 
child  is  taught  to  connect  the  object  directly  with 
the  foreign  word ;  in  other  words,  it  is  led  to  think 


teaching  French  5 

in  the  foreign  language.1  Various  ways  have  been 
suggested  for  accomplishing  this  end.  By  some 
the  foreign  language  has  been  taught  by  means 
of  object  lessons;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  have  in 
the  class-room  specimens  of  all  the  common  objects 
about  which  one  wishes  to  talk.  Others  prefer  to 
"  visualize  "  the  objects,  to  create  a  scene  before  the 
pupil's  mind.  This  puts  a  great  strain  on  the  teacher, 
and  is  not  found  to  answer  in  the  case  of  children ; 
moreover  the  "series"  method,  which  makes  a 
special  feature  of  "visualization,"  has  a  tendency 
to  become  mechanical. 

The  use  of  pictures,  on  the  other  hand,  has 
been  found  a  most  valuable  aid  in  teaching; 
and  those  published  by  Holzel2  have,  during 

1  This  is  sometimes  called  the  "  direct  "  or  the  "  natural " 
method  of  learning  languages.     It  is  worth  noting  that  these 
ideas  are  being  adopted  even  by  some  teachers  of  classics. 
The  admirable  work  done  by  Dr  Rouse  at  the  Perse  School, 
Cambridge,  has  attracted  much  attention. 

2  These  pictures  were  used  in  the  first  ten  editions  of  our 
First  French  Book ;  but  many  teachers  of  experience  objected  to 
them  on  the  score  that  they  represented  Austrian  scenes,  and 
were  not  artistic.     In  consequence  a  fresh  series  of  Pictures 
of  the  Seasons  has  been  designed  by  Mr  Symington ;  they  are 
published  by  Messrs  J.  M.  Dent  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  and  cost  2s.  6d. 
each  unmounted,  3s.  6d.  each  mounted  on  linen  and  eyeletted, 
and  6s.  each  mounted  on  linen  and  bound  at  edges,  with  rollers. 
In  these  pictures  the  general  effect  is  very  pleasing,  and  the 
details  are  clear  and  thoroughly  French.     Small  reproductions 
are  given  at  the  end  of  the  First  French  Book,  but  these  are 
only  meant  as  a  help  to  the  pupil  in  his  home  work.     For  class 
work  the  teacher  should  use  the  wall  pictures,  the  size  of  which 
is  55  x  35  inches. 


6  Hints  on 

the  last  fifteen  years,  been  utilised  by  many  teachers 
following  Mr  S.  Alge's  example,  the  first  edition 
of  whose  book  appeared  in  1887.  Here  we  have 
men  and  animals,  their  relations  to  each  other l  and 
to  nature,  their  occupations  and  qualities,  the  objects 
of  nature  and  art,  life  in  the  country  and  in  towns ; 
and  all  is  put  vividly  before  the  pupil.  Guided  by 
his  teacher  he  travels  through  his  early  childhood 
again ;  he  learns  to  clothe  his  thoughts  and  feelings 
in  a  new  garment ;  he  becomes  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  stock  of  words  he  acquires,  and  has  it  fully 
at  his  command.  He  understands  the  teacher,  and 
can  answer  his  questions  (based  on  the  picture) ; 
and  his  companions  can  tell  whether  he  is  right — for 
the  questions  call  up  the  same  associations  in  the 
mind  of  each  pupil. 

Though  there  might  be  a  hundred  answers  to  Que  fait 
la  mere  ?  yet  the  old  First  Courses  gave  only  one,  chosen  at 
random.  When  the  teacher  bases  his  first  teaching  on  the 
"Spring"  picture,  the  pupils  will  all  have  only  such  answers 
ready  as  suit  the  particular  case  :  die  travaille  dans  lejardin, 
elle  b$che,  elle  laboure  (ou  cultive]  le  jardin,  etc. 

And  how  little  human  interest  there  is  in  the  unconnected 
sentences  of  those  First  Courses  ! 

Personne  ne  parle  pour  appliquer  une  regie  de  grammaire, 
c'est  le  defaut  de  ces  phrases  qu'on  a  longtemps  fait  apprendre, 
et  qui  a  juste  titre  ont  ete'  tournees  en  ridicule.  Voici  une 

1  The  persons  on  the  first  picture  (Spring)  are  all  related  to 
each  other ;  and  our  pupils  take  quite  a  keen  interest  in  the 
three  generations  of  the  Bontemps  family,  each  member  of 
which  soon  gains  a  distinct  individuality. 

The  persons  on  the  other  pictures  also  have  names,  and 
thus  appear  as  individuals,  not  as  mere  types. 


teaching  French  7 

phrase  sur  les  pronoms  que  je  prends  dans  un  livre  d'exer- 
cices :  Votre  mere  n'a-t-elle  pas  entendu  chanter  nos  oiseaux  ? 
Et  cette  autre  :  <Tai  froid  aux  mains,  mais  vous  avez  chaud 
aux  v6tres.  La  meilleure  volont£  se  refroidit  au  contact  de  ces 
phrases  vides  de  sens. — M.  Michel  Bre&l. 

The  teacher  suggests  a  train  of  thought,  and  the 
pupils  can  often  supply  several  answers  to  any 
particular  question,  according  to  their  tastes  or 
inclinations.  They  are  encouraged  to  be  as  original 
as  possible ;  and  this  gives  fresh  zest  to  their  work.1 
Frequently  the  picture  is  merely  the  starting  point, 
and  the  teacher  passes  from  it,  by  easy  stages,  to 
other  things  which  are  familiar  to  the  pupil. 

The  striking  advantages  of  teaching  by  pictures 
are : — 

(i)  The  sound  of  the  foreign  word  is  directly 
associated  with  the  idea  to  be  expressed.  Neither 
the  spoken  nor  the  written  form  of  the  English  word 
intrudes  between  them.2 

(ii)  The  employment  of  the  mother-tongue  by  the 
pupil  is  reduced  to  a  minimum 3 ;  and  he  is  en- 

1  The  actual  use  of  the  foreign  tongue  invariably  interests 
the  pupils,  giving  them  a  sense  of  mastery  that  nothing  else 
can  bring. — Professor  0.  H.  Grandgent. 

2  Autant  que  possible,  le  maitre  rattachera  les  expressions 
de  la  langue  etrangere  directement  aux  idees  ou  a  d'autres 
expressions  de  la  meme   langue,   non  a  celles  de  la  langue 
maternelle.     Toutes  les  fois  qu'il  le  pourra,  il  remplacera  done 
la  traduction  par  des  Ie9ons  de   choses,  des  le£ons  sur  des 
images  et  des  explications  donnees  dans  la  langue  etrangere. 
— Association  phonttique  internationale. 

3  But  not  excluded  entirely ;  it  is  not  always  a  gain  to  be 
rigidly  consistent.     See  the  remarks  a  little  further  on. 


8  Hints  on 

couraged  as  much  as  possible  to  make  a  free  and 
natural  use  of  the  foreign  words  he  has  already 
acquired.1 

The  objection  is  sometimes  raised  that  it  is  impossible  to 
impart  any  fluency  of  speech  to  pupils  in  a  class  :  see  some 
suggestions  with  special  reference  to  class  teaching  on  p.  33. 

(iii)  The  picture  readily  supplies  a  very  large 
number  of  examples  for  the  purposes  of  grammar 
drill. 

(iv)  Hence  the  pupil  is  led  to  express  his  own  ideas, 
not  slavishly  following  the  cut  and  dried  phrases 
of  a  book,  and  the  teaching  becomes  brisker  and 
brighter. 

1  If  we  accustom  children  to  hearing  the  foreign  language  and 
to  using  it  themselves  constantly  from  the  very  beginning,  and 
insist  on  their  pronouncing  correctly  and  uttering  fluently 
whatever  they  say,  we  shall,  it  is  true,  not  succeed  in  making 
foreigners  of  them,  nor  is  this  in  any  way  desirable  ;  but  we 
shall  prevent  the  feeling  of  helplessness  and  embarrassment, 
and  the  nervous  fear  of  appearing  foolish,  which  makes  so 
many  of  us  hesitate  to  use  a  foreign  language,  and  impedes 
us  in  our  intercourse  with  foreigners,  depriving  us  of  much 
pleasure  and  profit. 

La  timid ite  grandit  avec  les  annees  :  nous  nous  rendons 
mieux  compte  des  difficulte's,  nous  avons  plus  d'egards  pour 
1'oreille  de  nos  interlocuteurs,  notre  amour-propre  aussi  est 
devenu  plus  sensible,  et  nous  demeurons  muets  pour  ne  paa 
etre  au-dessous  de  la  bonne  opinion  que  nous  voudrions  donner 
de  nous-memes. — M.  Michel  Br6al. 


teaching  French  9 

The  learning  of  words  and  forming  of  sentences.1 

(i)  The  teacher  begins2  by  pointing  to  persons, 
animals,  and  things  on  the  picture  (as  many  as  he 
has  selected  for  the  lesson),  and  names  them.  The 
pupils  repeat  what  he  says,  until  they  can  pronounce 
the  words  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  teacher.  Pupils 
are  made  to  point  at  the  various  persons,  etc.,  while 
others  name  them ;  or  again,  some  name  them,  and 
others  point  them  out  (No.  1). 

(ii)  We  show  persons,  animals,  and  things,  and  say 
what  they  are  (No.  1). 

(iii)  We  show  persons,  animals,  and  things,  and  say 
what  they  do  (Nos.  2  and  3). 

(iv)  We  show  persons,  animals,  and  things,  and 
give  their  distinguishing  features  (Nos.  4  and  5). 

(v)  We  show  persons,  animals,  and  things,  and 
say  where  they  are  (No.  6). 

(vi)  In  the  later  stages,  teacher  and  then  pupil 
read  the  sentences  of  a  lesson  one  by  one.  In  each 
sentence  there  is,  as  a  rule,  only  one  unknown  word 
(printed  in  clarendon  type) ;  all  the  others  are 
familiar  to  the  pupil.  The  context  gives  the  mean- 
ing of  the  new  word.  The  pupil  finds  a  special  charm 

1  A  detailed  "running  commentary"  to  the  lessons  will  be 
found  on  pp.  37  and  following. 

2  Notice  the  suggestion  on  p.  33,  as  to  giving  French  names 
to  the  pupils  in  class  teaching. 


to  Hints  on 

in  discovering  it ;  it  makes  him  think,  he  values  it  as 
the  result  of  his  thought,  and  his  memory  retains 
the  word  thus  gained  much  longer  than  if  he  had 
obtained  it  without  effort  from  vocabulary1  or 
dictionary.2 

If  the  teacher  is  not  convinced  that  his  pupils  fully  grasp 
the  meaning  of  the  new  word,  and  cannot  easily  help  them 
to  do  so,  he  may  supply  the  English  word.  This  should 
be  regarded  rather  as  a  last  resource ;  at  the  same  time,  it 
would  be  unreasonable  to  make  oneself  the  absolute  slave 
of  the  rule  that  the  foreign  language  should  be  used  in  the 
class-room.  Many  who  make  the  attempt  will  be  surprised 
how  very  little  English  they  will  find  it  necessary  to  introduce. 
In  bringing  out  some  point  of  grammar,  it  will  sometimes  be 

1  A  vocabulary  is  indeed  given  at  the  end  of  the  First  French 
Book,  but  such  explanations  as  are  to  be  found  there  are  given 
in  French.     An  alphabetical  list  of  words,  with  references  to 
the  place  where  they  first  occur,  is  added  to  the  Second  French 
Book. 

The  pupils  do  not  " prepare"  a  new  piece;1  whatever  is 
new  is  first  done  in  class,  then  revised  by  the  pupil,  who  will, 
therefore,  only  require  the  vocabulary  in  order  to  recall  the 
words  he  no  longer  remembers,  not  to  find  new  ones.  If  he 
has  been  systematically  through  the  First  Book,  he  will  not 
have  acquired  the  habit  of  turning  at  once  to  the  vocabulary 
whenever  he  is  doubtful,  but  will  rather  have  gained  the 
faculty  of  getting  the  meaning  of  words  from  their  context. 
Besides,  the  fairly  extensive  vocabulary  he  will  have  acquired 
will  enable  him  to  recognise  many  words  at  once  (e.g.,  com- 
pound verbs,  adjectives  derived  from  substantives,  etc.). 

2  The  clumsy  use  of  the  dictionary  causes  an  immense  waste 
of  time  among  junior  pupils. — Mr  W.  Stuart  Macgowan. 

1  The  dangers  of  such  preparation  are  now  generally  recognised ;  it  is  a 
hotbed  of  errors.  Similarly,  passages  for  dictation  should  be  based  on  the 
existing  vocabulary,  and  should  introduce  nothing  new ;  compare  those 
given  in  the  running  commentary  to  the  Second  French  Book,  e.g.  on  p.  97. 


teaching  French  11 

found  convenient  to  give  explanations  in  English ;  but  as 
soon  as  the  pupils  are  somewhat  advanced,  this  too  is  best 
done  in  French. 

' '  Every  minute  taken  from  native  speech  and  conducted  in 
foreign  speech  is  a  gain  to  the  foreign  language." — Professor 
Findlay,  Preparations  for  instruction  in  English  on  a  direct 
method,  p.  9. 


(vii)  At  a  still  later  stage  the  teacher  can  convey 
the  meaning  of  a  new  word,  without  pointing  to  the 
picture  and  without  giving  the  English,  by  means 
of  an  explanation  in  simple  words  that  are  already 
familiar,  or  better  still,  by  means  of  suitable  ques- 
tions leading  up  to  the  required  word.  This  is  at 
the  same  time  excellent  practice  for  ensuring  a  know- 
ledge of  the  existing  vocabulary. 


Applying  and  repeating  words. 

Every  new  word  is  at  once  applied.  The  teacher 
asks  what  are  the  qualities  of  the  new  object,  what 
the  persons  or  animals  do,  where,  when  or  under 
what  conditions  they  do  it;  he  asks  about  their 
various  parts ;  about  the  subject  and  object  of  some 
form  of  activity ;  he  also  asks  for  synonyms,  oppo- 
sites,  and  so  on.  Many  such  questions  are  given  in 
the  various  lessons,  together  with  exercises  of  various 
kinds,  which  may  be  utilised  for  home  work.  At 
the  end  of  a  suitable  number  of  lessons  there  is 
a  careful  repetition  of  the  words  that  have  been 
learnt. 


i2  Hints  on 

All  translation  from  the  mother  -  tongue  is 
avoided.1  The  pupil  is  to  move  as  much  as  possible 
in  the  foreign  atmosphere ;  and  as  the  result  of  his 
efforts  he  is  conscious  of  an  ever-increasing  stock  of 
words,  and  consequently  a  growing  power  to  express 
himself  in  the  foreign  language.2  The  recurrence 
of  words  in  ever-varying  surroundings  will  before 
long  make  him  quite  familiar  with  the  words  which 
form  the  framework  of  every  ordinary  conversation. 

1  "Das  ttbersetzen  in  eine  fremde  Sprache  ist  eine  Kunst, 
welche  die  Schule  nichts  angeht,"  Professor  Victor.     Nothing 
is  more  dangerous  for  beginners  than  to  make  them  translate 
English  into  the  foreign  language  ;  the  power  to  do  this  pro- 
perly presupposes  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the  peculiarities 
of  both  languages,  which  only  a  mature  student  can  hope  to 
possess. — Dr  K.  A.  M.  Hartmann  has  rightly  said,  that  this 
conviction  is  one  of  the  most  important  results  gained  during 
the  last  fifteen  years  by  those  who  have  studied  the  theory  and 
practice  of  modern  language  teaching. 

2  For  exercises  in  the  use  of  the  foreign  language  ("  skeleton 
exercises "  and  "free  composition"),  see  the  remarks  on  pp. 
89,  93,  and  also  Mr  Storr's  article  on  the  Teaching  of  Modern 
Languages  (composition,  p.  277)  in  Mr  Barnett's  Teaching  and 
Organisation. 

The  little  books  on  Easy  Free  Composition  in  French  (by 
Miss  Bull)  and  Free  Composition  and  Essay  Writing  in  French 
(by  Messrs  Philibert  and  Pratt),  are  recommended  for  pupils 
in  the  third  and  following  years  of  instruction. 


teaching  French  13 

What  we  know  as  grammar  is  the  result  of  a 
critical  comparison  of  the  whole  mass  of  a  language ; 
a  grouping  of  linguistic  phenomena  in  various  ways, 
and  in  certain  cases  their  reduction  to  rules.  If 
we  wish  to  speak  a  foreign  language,  we  must  learn 
the  rules  in  accordance  with  which  it  is  constructed. 

We  should,  however,  not  show  our  pupils  the 
whole  building  with  its  enormous  number  of  details 
and  all  its  irregularities ;  it  must  take  shape  under 
their  very  eyes,  and,  as  they  themselves  use  the 
materials,  it  will  be  as  though  they  had  helped  to 
build  it.  For  this  purpose  we  supply  them  with 
words,  the  materials  of  language  building ;  and  we 
show  them  how  these  are  to  be  used  in  sentences, 
and  let  them  notice  to  what  changes  they  are  subject 
in  certain  circumstances. 

For  an  example,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  running 
commentary  on  No.  7  of  the  First  French  Book. 

The  new  "materials"  are  examined  from  every 
point  of  view :  everything  remarkable  in  grammar, 
spelling,  order  of  words  is  noticed,  and  either 
connected  with  what  is  already  stored  in  the  pupil's 
mind  and  put  into  its  proper  place,  or  if  it  is 
something  quite  new  it  is  carefully  kept  until  the 
time  when  it  can  usefully  be  employed;  all  the 
materials  are  suitably  arranged,  and  the  rules 
deduced  from  them.  As  a  help  to  the  teacher  we 
have  given  on  pp.  37  and  foil,  a  running  commen- 
tary to  the  lessons  of  the  First  and  Second  Book. 
Here  he  will  find  in  convenient  arrangement  all 


14  Hints  on 

that  is  noteworthy  in  each  lesson,  and  also  remarks 
about  the  method  to  be  employed  in  certain  cases 
which  require  special  treatment.  The  grammar 
rules  are  gained  by  the  pupil  himself  under  the 
guidance  of  his  teacher;  they  have  been  put  to- 
gether and  arranged  in  sections  23,  33,  46,  52,  64  of 
the  First  Book,  and  pp.  129  and  foil,  of  the  Second. 
Copious  references  to  the  lessons  are  supplied  ;  it  is 
unnecessary  to  insist  on  the  great  value  of  this  close 
inter-dependence  of  grammar  and  text.  The  rules 
are  given  in  French,  and  the  pupil  is  thus  made 
acquainted  with  the  French  grammatical  terms, 
which  again  helps  him  to  avoid  the  use  of 
English. 

Many  readers  will  be  glad  to  make  use  of  M.  Berthon's 
Premiere  Grammaire  Fran$aise,  published  by  Messrs  J.  M. 
Dent  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  price  Is.  6d.  net,  in  which  all  that  is 
important  in  French  grammar  is  stated  in  clear  and  concise 
French,  and  of  Miss  Batchelor's  First  Exercises  and  Further 
Exercises  in  French  Grammar.  A  Key  to  the  latter  has  also 
been  issued. 

Pronunciation  and  Spelling. 

Always,  and  particularly  at  the  outset,  insist  on  the  best 
pronunciation  attainable. — Professor  G.  H.  Grandgent. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  flexible  organs  well  trained, 
together  with  only  an  average  ear,  will  yield  better  results 
than  even  an  exceptionally  good  ear  without  organic  training. 
— Dr  H.  Sweet. 

Quelques  notions  de  phone'tique  physiologique  ne  seront 
pas  inutiles  au  professeur.  Ainsi  qu'on  1'a  dit  avec  raison, 
elles  seront  pour  lui  ce  que  des  notions  d'anatomie  sont  pour 
le  professeur  de  gymnastique.  Corriger  une  fausse  prononcia- 
tiori  n'est  pas  chose  facile  :  il  faut  avoir  quelque  ide'e  des 
organes  mis  en  jeu.  — M.  Michel  Breal. 


teaching  French  15 

In  the  first  edition  of  this  little  book,  issued 
towards  the  end  of  1898,  I  said:  "The  application 
of  phonetics  to  modern  language  teaching  has  as  yet 
found  little  favour  in  England."  During  the  last 
ten  years,  however,  great  progress  has  been  made  ; 
many  books  have  followed  our  First  French  Boole 
in  using  the  transcription  of  the  International 
Phonetic  Association,  and  there  is  a  steadily  in- 
creasing number  of  teachers  with  a  good  training 
in  what  we  may  call  practical  phonetics  or  school 
phonetics. 

In  the  second  of  my  articles  on  the  Early  Teaching 
of  French  in  the  School  World  (Feb.  1899,  p.  51  and 
foil.)  will  be  found  suggestions  for  those  who  wish 
to  gain  some  knowledge  of  phonetics ;  these  may  be 
briefly  repeated  here. 

First  obtain  a  general  idea  of  the  organs  of  speech, 
and  of  the  sounds  uttered  in  English  and  French. 
Exercise  your  own  organs  of  speech  systematically, 
in  order  to  give  them  greater  flexibility.  At  present 
the  most  convenient  books  for  this  purpose  are  the 
English  translation  of  Victor's  Kleine  Phonetik 
(Elements  of  Phonetics  ;  English,  French,  and  German,'1 
2s.  6d.  net),  Mr  B.  Dumville's  Elements  of  French  Pro- 
nunciation and  Diction1  (2s.  6d.  net),  and  Mr  L. 
Basean's  Manuel  de  Phonttique 1  (2s.  6d.  net). 

French  texts  in  phonetic  transcription  will  be  found  in  the 
French  Phonetic  Reader*  (Is.  6d.),  by  Mr  S.  A.  Richards; 
Lectures- Dictfes l  (Is. ),  by  Mr  L.  Bascan  ;  and  Episodes  en 
Action1  (Is.  4d.),  by  Mr  J.  S.  Walters. 

i  In  Dent's  Modern  Language  Series. 


1 6  Hints  on 

The  teacher  may  also  be  recommended  to  read  a  book  on 
English  Phonetics,  such  as  The  Sounds  of  Spoken  English 
(same  publisher,  Is.  6d.  net).  It  is  a  growing  practice  to  give 
children  some  knowledge  of  the  sounds  of  their  mother-tongue 
before  they  start  a  foreign  language.  For  this  purpose  English 
Sounds  (same  publisher,  Is.)  will  be  found  useful. 

This  will  give  the  teacher  such  a  knowledge  of 
the  sounds  and  their  mode  of  production  as  is 
indispensable  for  the  proper  teaching  of  French 
pronunciation.  But  if  he  knows  German „  he  cannot 
do  better  than  work  through  Klinghardt's  admirable 
Artikulations-  und  Hb'rubungen  (published  by  Schulze, 
Cothen,  at  5s.  6d.  net) ;  this  will  render  his  ear 
more  delicate  and  his  organs  of  speech  more  flexible. 

If  in  doubt  as  to  the  pronunciation  of  any  par- 
ticular word,  refer  to  Passy's  Abrege  de  Prononciation 
franchise  (published  by  Reisland,  Leipzig,  at  Is.  net); 
to  Aug,  Andre's  Traitt  de  Prononciation  franqaise  et 
de  Diction  accompagne'  de  Lectures  en  prose  et  en  vers, 
(published  by  Payot,  Lausanne,  at  4  frs.  ;  the  trans- 
cript is  not  quite  the  same  as  that  of  the  Association, 
but  it  is  not  troublesome) ;  or  to  the  dictionary  of 
Passy  and  Michaelis  (published  by  Prior,  Hannover, 
at  4s.  net). 

With  the  knowledge  thus  acquired,  a  stay  in 
France  will  be  most  beneficial :  the  command  of  the 
language  will  be  increased,  and  the  student  will  be 
able  to  discriminate  between  good  and  bad  pro- 
nunciation on  the  part  of  natives. 

The  Board  of  Education  issues  an  annual  list  of  Holiday 
Courses,  which  can  be  obtained  through  any  bookseller. 
The  London  University  Holiday  Course  at  Ramsgate  is  par- 
ticularly suitable  for  English  teachers  desiring  to  obtain  a 
good  knowledge  of  phonetics  and  to  have  opportunities  of 
intercourse  with  French  teachers. 


teaching  French  17 

A  recent  addition  to  Dent's  Modern  Language  Series  forms 
an  excellent  preliminary  to  the  First  French  Book.  It  is 
Mr  W.  E.  Llewellyn's  French  Primer.  Part  I.  contains  a 
simple  phonetic  text,  with  many  pictures;  Part  II.,  the 
transition  to  the  ordinary  spelling.  An  excellent  plan  for 
the  year  preceding  the  First  French  Book  is  to  give  the  first 
term  to  English  Sounds  (mentioned  above),  and  to  go  through 
this  Primer  during  the  rest  of  the  year. 


A  few  remarks  may  be  added  on  the  main  difficul- 
ties of  English  children  in  pronouncing  French. 

The  teacher  should  make  sure  that  all  the  pupils  breathe 
properly.  Children  who  stutter,  lisp,  or  have  any  other 
defect  of  speech  require  special  attention  ;  the  parents  should 
be  communicated  with,  and  steps  should  be  taken  to  remove 
at  an  early  stage  what  may  become  almost  ineradicable  later 
on,  and  the  source  of  much  discomfort,  if  not  actual  un- 
happiness. 

The  pronunciation  of  each  individual  must  be 
distinct  and  sufficiently  loud  to  be  heard  by  every 
one  present.  This  is  particularly  necessary  in 
French,  the  articulation  of  which  is  much  more 
precise  than  in  the  case  of  English.  There  must  be 
no  mumbling  or  slurring ;  the  teacher  must  insist  on 
clear  enunciation  until  it  becomes  habitual. 

If  the  pronunciation  of  French  sounds  gives  a 
pupil  serious  trouble,  he  will  often  derive  more  help 
from  the  pronunciation  of  a  fellow  pupil  than  from 
his  master's,  because  the  former's  voice  is  more  like 
his  own. 

The  teacher  will  endeavour  throughout  to  let  the 
children  discover  differences  between  English  and 
French  pronunciation  for  themselves. 


1 8  Hints  on 

The  pupils  should  be  encouraged  to  listen  carefully 
while  the  sentences  of  the  lesson  are  read  by  each  in 
turn,  and  should  be  asked  if  they  notice  anything 
faulty  in  the  pronunciation.  It  is  remarkable  how 
soon  their  ear  becomes  trained.  They  should,  how- 
ever, when  asked,  not  reproduce  the  faulty  pronun- 
ciation, but  give  the  correct  form  of  the  word  that 
has  been  mispronounced.1 

Especially  at  the  beginning,  the  class  should  read 
in  chorus  frequently.  They  soon  learn  to  keep  time, 
even  without  the  guidance  of  the  teacher,  who  can 
then  control  the  pronunciation,  and,  like  the  director 
of  an  orchestra,  single  out  the  one  who  has  "  played 
a  false  note."  When  a  class  is  large,  it  should  be 
divided  into  sections  for  chorus  work. 

Separate  sounds. 

The  vowels  present  much  difficulty  to  English 
(especially  to  southern  English)  speakers;  a  diffi- 
culty intensified  when  the  children  in  learning 
English  reading  have  been  accustomed  to  spelling 
words  by  giving  the  names  of  the  letters,  instead  of 
uttering  the  sounds  which  constitute  the  words. 
Their  ear  is  not  trained  if  they  are  told  that  the 

1  When  a  pupil  has  mispronounced  a  word,  another  pupil 
goes  to  the  sound-chart,  points  first  to  the  sound  which  has 
been  heard  and  then  to  the  sound  which  should  have  been 
uttered.  The  sound-chart  Les  Sons  du  Fran^ais  contains 
the  phonetic  symbols  in  bold  type.  Small  reproductions  of 
this  chart,  with  keywords,  can  be  obtained  at  the  price  of  30 
for  Is.  There  is  also  a  set  of  nine  charts,  by  Jones  and 
Rausch,  which  show  the  tongue  and  lip  positions  for  the  chief 
vowel  sounds. 


teaching  French  19 

vowel  in  bit  is  i  (pronounced  as  "eye")  or  that 
the  vowel  in  but  is  u  (pronounced  "  you  ;J).  They 
must  be  taught  to  distinguish  the  actual  sounds 
uttered ;  for  instance,  they  must  come  to  know  that 
in  bait  and  boat  we  have  not  simply  long  vowels,  but 
real  diphthongs,  and  to  recognise  that  beat  and  boot 
also  have  not  one  vowel  sound  of  uniform  value 
between  b  and  t.  Unless  this  be  clearly  understood 
they  will  pronounce  the  French  and  English  rose 
alike,  and  make  French  Ute  and  English  late  rime. 
To  make  these  mistakes  is  alone  sufficient  to  stamp 
a  pronunciation  as  utterly  un- French. 

In  pronouncing  the  a  in  words  like  dme,  pas,  the 
tongue  should  lie  flat  in  the  mouth ;  many  southern 
English  speakers  either  draw  the  tongue  back  too 
far,  which  gives  a  "  dark "  sound,  often  heard  in 
southern  English  father,  or  raise  the  front  of  the 
tongue,  which  gives  the  "  clear  "  sound  of  a  in  French 
rage,  ma,  or  in  northern  English  cat. 

The  three  sounds  of  e,  viz.  unaccented  e,  close  6, 
and  open  e  must  be  carefully  kept  apart.  The  first 
offers  little  difficulty,  as  a  very  similar  sound  (with- 
out lip-rounding)  occurs  in  English.  But  the  dis- 
tinction between  close  6  and  open  e  requires 
attention;  e  in  then  is  about  half-way  between  the 
two. 

Exercises  :  e  (i.e.  unaccented  e)-a-e-e-e-a-e,  e'-e-a-e-a-e-e". 
(Repeat;  first  slowly,  then  more  rapidly,  but  always  dis- 
tinctly. ) 

In  practising  these  exercises,  the  vowels  should  not  only  be 
jerked  out  separately;  it  is  good  to  practise  gliding  from 
one  to  another. 


20  Hints  on 

The  lips  are  very  inactive  in  southern  English ; 
in  French  clean  and  vigorous  lip  action  is  essential 
for  the  correct  production  of  a  large  proportion  of 
the  vowels.  The  teacher  will  round  his  lips  as  much 
as  possible  in  producing  the  sounds  written  o  and  ov 
in  French,  and  will  insist  on  a  close  imitation  on 
the  part  of  his  pupils.  Every  pupil  should  be  pro- 
vided with  a  little  mirror ;  it  is  the  only  way  to  make 
the  beginner  understand  what  lip-rounding  means. 


Exercises :  a  (mouth  well  open)  -o  (lips  well  rounded)  -ou 
(lips  still  more  rounded) ;  the  opening  no  larger  than  the  end 
of  a  lead  pencil)  -o-a,  ou-o-a-o-ou  (Repeat). 


The  distinction  between  close  o  (as  in  rdle)  and 
open  o  (as  in  parole)  must  be  mastered  next,  and 
the  sounds  practised  by  individuals  and  the  whole 
class. 

Exercises :  a-open  o-close  o-ou,  ou-close  o-open  o-a  ; 
close  e-open  e-pause-close  o-open  o  ; 
i-close  e-open  e-a,  ou-close  o-open  o-a. 

Special  care  is  necessary  in  the  case  of  <?,  e  and  close  o  to 
avoid  the  diphthongal  character  of  the  kindred  English 
sounds.  The  organs  of  speech  must  be  kept  in  one  position 
all  the  time ;  thus  in  the  case  of  close  o  the  lips  must  be 
rounded  before  the  beginning  of  the  vowel,  and  the  rounding 
must  remain  unchanged  during  its  production. 

When  open  £,  close  6  and  i  are  pronounced  with 
lip-rounding,  we  obtain  the  sounds  heard  in  peur, 
pen,  pur  respectively  : — 


teaching  French  21 


For  open  eu 
For  close  eu 
For  u 

Tongue  position  : 
as  for  open  e 
as  for  close  e 
as  for  i 

Lip-rounding  : 
as  for  open  o 
as  for  close  o 
as  for  ou 

Sounds  closely  approaching  the  French  sounds  can  be  pro- 
duced without  lip-rounding,  and  are  often  substituted  for  them 
by  English  speakers  ;  but  the  teacher  should  insist  on  the 
correct  mode  of  production. 

The  sound  of  u  gives  a  good  deal  of  trouble.  The  pupils 
should  push  a  pencil  into  their  mouths  in  order  to  realize  that 
in  the  case  of  French  ou  the  back  of  the  tongue  is  raised,  and 
in  the  case  of  u  the  front. 

When  a  vowel  is  followed  by  r,  there  is  a  tendency 
to  slur  the  r,  often  also  to  lengthen  the  vowel. 
Here  the  teacher  has  a  most  difficult  task  :  the 
pupils  must  be  made  to  trill  the  r  (see  below),  and 
the  idea  that  the  vowel  is  long  must  be  eradicated 
by  constant  repetition  of  the  correct  pronunciation. 
The  French  porter  is  not  represented  by  the  English 
paw-tay. 

The  nasal  vowels  give  some  trouble,  until  the  child 
clearly  recognises  to  which  oral  vowel  each  nasal 
vowel  corresponds.  The  relationship  is  roughly  as 
follows  :  — 

Oral  :  Nasal  : 

(on  in  oncle 
oinparte 


(in  in  fin 
eininpkin 
am  in  main 
aim  in  faim 

1  Or  a  in  southern  English  bat,  pat  may  be  compared. 


22  Hints  on 

fun  (indef.  art.) 
eu  in  peur  .    ,      I7 

\,um  in  humble 

ren,  an  in  enfant 
a  in  ZM0  J  em  in  terwpfe 

[am  in  champ 

The  two  most  frequently  confused  are  the  sounds 
written  on  and  aw;1  this  is  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  oral  vowels  are  badly  pronounced. 
If  a  very  "dark"  a  is  pronounced  (see  above), 
and  if  the  open  o  is  uttered  without  lip-round- 
ing, the  two  sounds  are  very  much  alike;  and  if 
they  become  nasal,  the  ear  can  hardly  distinguish 
them. 

Many  of  the  consonants  also  deserve  attention : 
b,  d3  g,  at  the  end  of  words  are  uniform  in  value; 
very  often  in  English  the  vocal  chords  cease  vibrating 
before  the  sound  is  at  an  end ;  in  other  words,  the 
b  passes  into  p,  d  into  t,  and  g  into  k.  The  same  is 
true  of  final  "  voiced  "  s  (as  in  English  dogs),  which 
in  French  never  passes  into  "voiceless"  s. 

1  To  one  who  knows  the  language  it  may  seem  incredible 
that  these  sounds  should  not  be  recognised  by  the  ear  as 
different.  I  have  had  lisping  '  patients  '  who  in  the  same  way 
could  not  distinguish  between  the  sounds  of  sh  and  s ;  now  that 
they  are  cured  they  are  quite  clear  about  it.  I  also  had  a 
pupil  nineteen  years  of  age,  who  had  never  been  able  to  hear 
any  difference  in  the  pronunciation  of  fought  and  thought ; 
he  himself  pronounced  them  in  exactly  the  same  way. 
11  The  greatest  difficulty  I  have  to  encounter,"  says  Professor 
C.  F.  Kroeh,  an  American  teacher  of  recognised  ability  and 
long  experience,  "  is  the  imperfect  training,  or  total  absence  of 
training,  of  the  ear  in  our  schools."  This  is  quite  as  true  here 
as  in  America. 


\ 


teaching  French  23 

p,  t,  k,  are  never  aspirated,  as  is  often  the  case  in 
English;  when  we  emphasise  a  word  like  pain,  we 
commonly  let  h  follow  the  p  (similarly  in  German). 

If  a  sheet  of  paper  is  held  lightly  before  the  lips,  and  the 
English  or  German  Papa  is  pronounced  forcibly,  the  aspira- 
tion will  cause  the  paper  to  move.  When  the  French  papa  is 
pronounced,  there  should  be  practically  no  movement. 

The  sounds  which  follow  I  in  Louis  and  lui  re- 
spectively are  not  identical.  The  former  is  like  the 
English  w ;  it  is  the  consonantal  sound  corresponding 
to  the  vowel  written  ou  in  French;  the  latter 
corresponds  to  the  French  u.  In  ui  the  tongue 
position  does  not  change ;  but  the  lip  rounding 
required  by  the  u  ceases  when  the  i  is  uttered. 

j  and  g  (with  the  same  sound)  are  sometimes  read 
as  in  English,  e.g.,  French  journal  is  made  to  begin 
with  d,  like  English  journal.  A  comparison  of  the 
sounds  in  ledger  and  leisure  will  help  to  impress  the 
fact  that  j  in  Jim  represents  two  sounds,  as  does  g  in 
gem. 

In  pronouncing  Z,  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
tongue  touches  the  upper  teeth ;  in  southern  English 
it  is  usually  drawn  back  and  the  I  has  a  "  dark " 
sound,  which  appears  in  an  extreme  form  in  the 
milkman's  cry  "  Milkoo  !  " 

The  most  troublesome  of  the  consonants  to  a 
southern  English  child  is  undoubtedly  the  r.  It  is 
not,  indeed,  necessary  to  teach  the  "  uvular  "  r  (or 
"throat  r,"  as  it  is  sometimes  called),  common  in 
the  speech  of  Paris  and  the  other  large  towns ;  the 
"  lingual "  r  (or  "  tongue  r ")  is  preferred  by  the 


24  Hints  on 

French  themselves,  in  theory.  But  r  must  always 
be  trilled  :  this  is  difficult  for  speakers  who  have 
been  accustomed  to  the  ordinary  English  r,  which 
is  lingual  also,  but  untrilled,  where  it  has  not  disap- 
peared altogether.  It  takes  some  time  before  children 
acquire  the  habit  of  trilling  every  r  in  French. 

Difficult  combinations  should  be  practised,  such  as  arbre, 
mercredi,  and  the  ron-ron-ron,  which  represents  the  purring 
of  a  cat. 

Accentuation. 

English  speakers  constantly  transfer  the  English 
accent  to  French  words ;  thus  they  dwell  emphati- 
cally on  the  second  syllable  of  words  like  commencer, 
regarder,  re'pondre.  To  counteract  this,  the  teacher 
does  well  to  insist  on  uniform  accentuation  of  all 
syllables,  none  being  stressed  in  a  marked  way  ;  later, 
the  French  distribution  of  stresses  may  be  attempted. 

A  good  exercise  consists  in  tapping  uniformly  on  the  table 
as  each  syllable  is  uttered  in  reading  aloud. 

Liaison. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  make  every  possible  liaison 
in  conversational  French ;  the  pronunciation  becomes 
intolerably  pedantic.  It  is  a  still  greater  mistake  to 
carry  a  letter  across  a  pause,  however  slight.  The 
pupils  should  be  taught  to  make  suitable  breath 
pauses  when  they  read  a  sentence ;  they  will  then 
instinctively  "run  together": — 

article  and  noun  :  des  enfants 

adjective  and  noun  ;  de  bans  enfants 


teaching  French  25 

pronominal  adjective  and 

noun  :  ces  enfants,  mes  enfants 

preposition  and  noun :         dans  un  jar  din  ;  en  arrivant 
adverb  and  adjective  :         die  est  tres  heureuse 
pronoun  and  verb  :  Us  out  joud,  ont-elles  chantd, 

on  ira 
conjunction  (not  et\)  and 

following  word  :  quand  il  viendra 

How  much  time  will  the  Teacher  have  to  devote 
to  exercises  in  pronunciation  1  He  will  have  to 
spend  as  much  as  will  enable  each  Pupil  to  pro- 
nounce the  unfamiliar  sounds  fairly  correctly,  if  not 
fluently.  This  may  take  eight  or  ten  periods  with  a 
class  of  average  size  and  ability,  in  which  the  Pupils 
have  not  already  acquired  bad  habits  of  pronuncia- 
tion. But  it  is  not  enough  to  have  enabled  them  to 
pronounce  the  words  correctly  a  few  times ;  only 
constant  repetition  will  ensure  their  being  produced 
easily  and  instinctively.  For  this  purpose  it  is  advis- 
able to  set  aside  some  minutes  every  lesson  during 
the  early  stages  for  drill  in  sounds ;  this  can  best  be 
done  with  the  aid  of  the  sound-chart  (see  p.  18,  note). 
After  some  time  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  continue  this 
special  drill ; l  the  constant  use  of  French  by  the 
Pupils  in  class  will  afford  the  Teacher  a  ready  means 

1  To  avoid  monotonous  repetition  it  is  better  to  let  further 
attention  to  this  subject  take  the  form  of  carefully  working  up 
a  piece  of  poetry  or  a  fine  prose  passage,  which  are  learnt  by 
heart.  The  Pupils  have  the  whole  in  phonetic  symbols  (if 
these  are  used)  to  help  them  at  home.  Many,  however,  like 
to  give  their  Pupils  a  few  minutes'  sound  drill  at  the  beginning 
of  every  lesson,  to  "tune  up"  the  instruments, 


26  Hints  on 

of  ascertaining  that  their  pronunciation  is  satisfac- 
tory. He  may  take  it  for  granted  that  any  remiss- 
ness  on  his  part  in  correcting  faulty  pronunciation 
will  soon  lead  to  undesirable  results.  The  fact  that 
his  Pupils  use  their  mother-tongue  almost  exclusively 
when  they  are  not  in  his  class  makes  it  imperative 
that  he  should  demand  an  absolutely  correct  pro- 
nunciation of  French  when  they  are  with  him. 

Transition  from  the  phonetic  to  the  ordinary 
spelling. 

This  section  is  for  the  use  of  those  Teachers  who  believe  iu 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  phonetic  spelling  in  the  early  stages. 

The  Teacher  who  has  made  himself  familiar  with 
the  elements  of  phonetics  will  not  think  it  excessive 
if  he  is  asked  to  go  through  the  whole  of  the  lessons 
(22)  based  on  the  spring  picture  without  letting  his 
Pupils  see  a  word  in  the  conventional  spelling.1  When 
he  has  reached  this  point,  his  Pupils  will  have  ac- 
quired a  very  fair  pronunciation,  and  are  no  longer 
likely  to  be  misled  by  the  conventional  spelling.  The 
transition  to  this  can  therefore  be  undertaken  now, 
and  will  afford  the  pupils  much  that  is  of  interest. 

The  Teacher  revises  what  has  been  learnt,  now 
using  the  text  as  printed  on  pp.  1-37.  This  can  be 
done  all  the  more  easily,  as  each  word  is  printed  in 
clarendon  where  it  appears  for  the  first  time.  The 
Pupil  realises  how  confusing  the  conventional  spell- 
ing is.  Hitherto  he  has  been  able  to  read  every 

1  The  early  lessons  of  the  First  French  Book  in  phonetic 
transcript  are  issued  separately  at  6d.  net. 


teaching  French  27 

word  easily,  because  each  sign  represented  one 
sound  only ;  but  now  he  finds  the  same  sign  repre- 
senting several  sounds,  several  signs  used  to  re- 
present one  sound,  some  signs  representing  no  sound 
at  all.  Thu's  when  he  sees  fait,  he  notices  the  spell- 
ing ai  for  the  sound  represented  by  e  in  pere  and 
mire.  When  he  comes  to  nager,  he  is  expected  to 
pronounce  g  as  [3],  while  in  garpon,  the  sign  g  had  a 
different  value  ;  and  the  r  of  nager  is  not  pronounced 
at  all. 

After  a  few  remarks  on  this  difference  between 
the  phonetic  and  the  conventional  spelling,  the 
Teacher  will  call  upon  his  Pupils  to  compare  the 
two,  saying  for  instance  :  —  1 

Paul :    p  for  2[p],  au  for  [o],  I  for  [1]. 

C^cile :  c  for  [s],  6    for  [e],  c  for  [s],  i  for  [i], 

I  for   [1],  e  silent.3 
Henri :  h  silent ;    en  for  [d] ;  r  for  [r],  i  for  [i]. 

Or  the  Pupils  may  write  the  words  in  parallel 
columns,  e.g.  : — 

Mm  Ch     J  LI  p    p 

a       a  a       a  o\  6s: 

r       r  r       r  u/  r    r 

i       i  11  i      i:  e    — 

e       —  e      —  s      z 

s       —  e      — 


1  The  French  letters  may  be  pronounced  in  the  conventional 
French  way. 

2  Or  better :  pour.  8  muette. 


28  Hints  on 

When  the  Pupils  have  compared  a  dozen  words  in 
this  manner,  they  are  asked  to  note  the  various  ways 
in  which  sounds  are  represented.  They  notice,  for 
instance,  that  p,  I,  r,  m,  d  have  the  same  value  in 
both  spellings ;  that  ch  does  duty  for  [/] ;  that 
nasal  vowels  are  written  '  vowel  plus  n '  (later  on  they 
find  examples  of  '  vowel  plus  m ').  The  Pupils 
rapidly  acquire  the  conventional  spelling  of  these 
words  (as  may  be  seen  by  giving  them  a  short 
dictation  in  the  following  lesson),  after  which  another 
set  of  words  can  be  taken  in  the  same  way.  By 
constantly  asking  for  words  of  which  the  spelling  has 
already  been  seen,  the  Teacher  ensures  that  powerful 
associations  are  formed  in  the  minds  of  his  Pupils. 
It  is  well  to  let  them  make  their  own  lists  of  words ; 
thus  the  representation  of  sounds  in  the  words  occur- 
ring in  lessons  3-10  can  be  summarised  as  follows : — 

A.   Vowels. 

o:  aussi,  sauter,  eau,  oiseau,  haut,  beau,  chapeau, 
ruisseau,  jaune. 

o  :  Paul,  voler,  joli,  prononcez,  porte,  colline,  labori- 
eux,  foret,  proverbe. 

o  :  maison,  caneton,  font,  hirondelle,  sont,  montagne, 
prononcer,  bon. 

a :  Henri,  comment,  grand,  dans,  champ,  branche, 
paysan,  enfant,  parents,  manger. 

e :  C^cile,  r£petez,  agitable,  pre,  eglise. 

8 :  fidele,  derriere,  f rere,  riviere,  air,  contraire,  hiron- 
delle, insecte,  ferme,  vert,  fen£tre,  for£t,  neige. 

|:  jardin,  insecte,  cinq,  moulin, 


teaching  French  29 

0:  deux,  laborieux,  joyeux,  heureux,  mieux,  vieux. 

oe:  jeune,  fleur,  couleur,  heureux. 

u:  Louise,  jouer,  poule,  ouverb,  bouquet,  ou,  couleur, 

rouge. 

w:  trois,  oiseau,  voix,  toit,  voici,  noir. 
y :  utile,  plume,  sur. 
j  :  travailler,  abeille. 

B.  Consonants. 

p :  pere,  repeter,  paysan,  paysanne. 

b :  bon,  blanc,  beau,  belle,  laborieux. 

t :  toit,  partie.     d:  deux,  de,  des. 

k :  canard,  caneton,  bouquet,  cinq,  qui. 

g :  gar£on. 

v :  voler,  village. 

s  :  C^cile,  sauter,  aussi.     z  :  Louise,  maison. 

J :  Charles,  marcher,  chien,  cheval,  branche,  chose. 

5 :  jardin,  jouer,  jeune,  joyeux,  nager,  village,  neige, 

rouge, 
p :  montagne. 

On  p.  33  and  foil,  will  be  found  the  substantives, 
adjectives,  verbs  and  prepositions  contained  in  lessons 
1-22,  silent  letters  being  printed  in  italics.  On  pp. 
38-43  are  given  the  sounds  and  their  signs.  A 
few  exercises  have  been  added  to  show  certain 
grammatical  changes  which  at  first  give  trouble. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  use  of  phonetic 
transcript  in  the  initial  stages,  if  followed  by  this 
systematic  transition  to  the  conventional  spelling, 
does  not  confuse  the  Pupils.  Indeed  they  usually 
spell  better  than  those  who  have  used  the  conven- 
tional spelling  from  the  outset. 


30  Hints  on 


The  Vocabulary. 

Much  attention  has  of  late  been  given  to  the 
teaching  of  French  pronunciation ;  but  the  import- 
ance of  carefully  selecting  the  words  to  be  learnt  has 
not  been  generally  recognised. 

A  glance  at  the  majority  of  First  French  Books 
will  show  that  little  thought  has  been  given  to  the 
vocabulary.  In  many  cases  the  words  are  chosen 
because  they  illustrate  some  grammar  rule ;  thus, 
cheval,  marshal,  animal,  capital,  etc.,  appear  in  the 
same  lesson  because  of  the  way  in  which  their 
plural  is  formed.  These  words  are  given  in  the 
beginning  of  the  lesson,  with  the  English  at  the  side, 
and  the  Pupil  learns  them  off  in  parrot  fashion, 
repeating  them  in  French  and  in  English  alternately 
until  he  thinks  he  knows  them.  Now  there  is 
something  lifeless  and  mechanical  about  this  process ; 
only  in  few  cases  does  the  Pupil  actually  think  of 
the  object  designated  by  the  word.  When  he  reads 
cheval,  he  does  not  see  a  horse  with  his  mind's  eye ; 
and  consequently  when  he  actually  sees  a  horse,  it 
does  not  at  once  suggest  cheval.  It  is  true  that  even 
with  such  a  method,  a  diligent  Pupil  will  achieve 
certain  results ;  but  he  is  not  reaching  them  in  the 
most  profitable  and  the  most  direct  manner. 

The  Eeform  Method  demands  a  more  rational 
acquisition  of  the  vocabulary.  It  insists  that  the 
foreign  words  should  be  connected 


teaching  French  31 

(a)  with  objects,  or  pictures  of  objects ; 

(b)  with  one  another. 

The  objects  in  the  class-room  are  utilised  in- 
cidentally ;  in  most  cases  the  vocabulary  is  taught  in 
connection  with  the  wall  pictures  of  the  four  seasons, 
which  have  been  specially  prepared  for  this  book. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  these  pictures  are 
particularly  suitable  for  the  object  in  view.  They 
show  scenes,  not  unconnected  objects  ;  these  scenes 
are  simple,  and  enable  the  Pupils  to  acquire  all  words 
designating  the  common  interests  and  occupations  of 
civilised  man.  They  do  not  introduce  the  learner 
too  early  to  the  complex  conditions  of  the  great 
city ;  they  give  him  a  wholesome  picture  of  simple, 
honest  life  in  the  country,  and  show  him  how  much 
resemblance  there  is  after  all  between  his  own  life 
and  that  of  the  foreign  people  whose  language  he  is 
learning. 

The  first  picture  used  is  that  representing  Spring. 
The  Teacher  begins  by  supplying  the  names  of  certain 
concrete  objects  ;  thus  he  points  to  the  house  and 
says  la  maison,  he  points  to  the  window  and  says 
la  /entire.  In  each  case  he  can  be  sure  that  his 
Pupils  are  clear  about  the  meaning.  Similarly  he 
teaches  the  meaning  of  la  porte.  There  is  no  need 
to  use  English — he  need  not  do  more  than  point  to 
the  object ;  or  he  may  leave  even  this  to  a  Pupil. 
The  English  words  do  not  intrude ;  and  the  Pupil 
consequently  learns  to  connect  directly  the  foreign 
word  with  the  object.  This  leads  to  a  surer  know- 


32  Hints  on 

ledge,  and  also  represents  a  distinct  economy  of 
time. 

It  will  be  conceded  that  this  is  a  simple  and 
effective  way  of  teaching  the  foreign  names  of  con- 
crete objects.  But  how  about  abstract  ideas,  such 
as  the  activity  expressed  by  a  verb  1  This  is  usually 
best  taught  by  means  of  examples.  Thus,  voter  is 
taught  in  connection  with  hirondelle  and  abeille  (lesson 
2).  It  may  happen,  that  the  examples  given  do  not 
suffice  to  make  the  meaning  of  the  verb  quite  clear ; 
the  experienced  Teacher  will  easily  gather  this  from 
the  expression  on  his  Pupils7  faces.  In  that  case  he 
will  ask  them  to  suggest  the  meaning  in  English. 

The  meaning  of  adjectives  can  be  conveyed  in  a 
similar  way.  Thus  fidete  is  taught  in  connection 
with  chien  (in  Lesson  4) ;  the  Teacher  says :  "  I  am 
now  going  to  tell  you  a  quality  which  makes  the 
dog  a  special  friend  of  man :  Le  chien  est  fidete." 
Prepositions  (see  Lesson  6)  are  easily  taught  by 
means  of  the  picture. 

As  a  Teacher's  experience  grows,  he  becomes  more 
skilled  in  thus  leading  his  Pupils  to  find  out  new 
words.  At  first  it  may  often  seem  rather  difficult, 
and  there  are  critics  who  have  not  been  slow  to  make 
fun  of  this  feature  of  the  method — to  describe  it  as 
a  childish  game,  a  futile  setting  and  solving  of 
riddles.  Yet  after  all,  does  not  the  child  learn  new 
words  in  its  mother  tongue  in  just  this  way  1  The 
child  is  led  in  both  cases  to  find  the  meaning,  by 
being  shown  the  object  designated,  or  by  being 
helped  to  associate  it  with  something  it  already 
knows. 


teaching  French  33 

The  process  is  indeed  not  to  be  compared  to  the 
setting  and  solving  of  riddles  ;  rather  is  it  like  the 
use  of  algebraic  equations,  and  it  requires  clear 
thinking  and  application  to  deduce  the  unknown 
quantity  from  several  that  are  known.  It  is  true 
that  the  definition  of  a  new  word  given  by  the 
Teacher  is  often  suggestive,  rather  than  exhaustive ; l 
but  the  end  is  achieved  all  the  same,  and  the  mental 
process  represents  a  definite  gain  to  the  Pupil,  who 
has  not  only  learnt  the  new  word,  but  repeated 
several  old  ones,  with  which  fresh  associations  are 
now  formed. 

This  method  appeals  not  only  to  the  memory ;  it 
calls  forth  the  reasoning  faculty  and  the  imagination. 
The  lessons  become  more  stimulating  to  the  Teacher 
and  the  taught ;  the  former  is  not  the  servant  of  the 
printed  word,  the  latter  rejoice  in  thinking  for 
themselves. 

Some  Suggestions  for  Class  Teaching. 

In  speaking  to  the  pupils,  or  in  letting  them  ask 
each  other  questions,  it  is  awkward  to  introduce 
their  English  names;  and  yet  it  is  necessary  to 
distinguish  them.  It  is  therefore  advisable  to  give 
them  French  names,  and  the  most  convenient  will  be 
proper  names  which  are  equivalent  to  common  words. 
The  following  list  will  be  found  useful : — 

Bottier,  Boucher,  Boulanger,  Brasseur,  Charbon- 
nier>  Charpentier,  Chevalier,  Cordonnier,  Coutelier, 
Fruitier,  Menuisier,  Mercier,  Pelletier,  Poissonnier, 

1  The  pupils  find  difficulty  in  defining  simple  objects  even 
in  their  mother  tongue. 

C 


34  Hints  on 

Sellier,  Sermrier,  Tailleur,  Tavernier,  Tisserand, 
Tonnelier,  Tourneur,  Verrier,  Vigneron ;  Aigle,  Bour- 
geois, Honore,  Petit  jean,  Kenard,  Riviere,  Rosier, 
Sauvage,  Vaillant,  Vigoureux;  Labbe",  Laumonier, 
Lebeau,  Leblanc,  Leblond,  Lebrun,  Leclair,  Lecomte, 
Lecoq,  Lecourt,  Lecouvreur,  Le*crivain,  L^cuyer, 
Ledoux,  Leduc,  Lefort,  Lefranc,  Lefrere,  Legris, 
Legros,  Lejeune,  Lelarge,  Lelievre,  Lemaire,  Lemaltre, 
Lemar^chal,  Lemoine,  Leneuf,  Lenfant,  Lenoble, 
Lenoir,  Lepage,  Lepere,  Lepetit,  Leprince,  Lerouge, 
Leroux,  Lesage,  Lesimple,  Letemps,  Letrange,  Le*- 
veque,  Levieux,  Loiseau.1 

Giving  the  pupils  French  names  also  helps  to  sug- 
gest the  French  atmosphere  which  we  want  them 
to  breathe  in  these  lessons.  This  may  well  be  taken 
as  the  very  first  step,  and  incidentally  they  can  be 
practised  in  producing  the  sounds  which  are  strange 
to  them.  In  learning  to  pronounce  each  other's 
names  fluently  they  will  be  preparing  their  organs  of 
speech  for  the  new  language  generally. 

When  a  question  is  asked,  and  a  pupil  named, 
he  (or  the  whole  class)  should,  in  the  early  stages, 
repeat  the  question  before  he  gives  the  answer. 
Sometimes  this  may  be  varied,  by  letting  him  answer 
one  question  and  ask  the  next  one  in  the  book  (or 
one  he  has  made  up).  The  pupil  (or  the  teacher) 
then  names  some  other  pupil,  who  answers  the 
question  and  himself  asks  a  third. 

The  teacher  may  also  tell  the  pupils  to  adc[gess  a 
question  to  some  person  on  the  wall  picture,  and  put 

1  These  names  appear  in  phonetic  transcript  on  p.  54  of  the 
Phonetic  Section  of  First  French  Book  (see  p.  26,  note). 


teaching  French  35 

it  on  a  slip  of  paper ;  each  then  passes  on  his  slip  to 
his  neighbour,  who  supplies  the  answer.  The  ques- 
tions and  answers  are  then  read  aloud. 

Words  and  Phrases  which  can  be  accompanied  by 
Action  in  Class. 

A  useful  exercise  consists  in  making  certain  words 
live  by  means  of  action.  This  can  of  course  be  done 
only  in  the  case  of  verbs. 

The  teacher  gives  the  verb  se  lever,  and  a  pupil 
designated  by  him  performs  the  corresponding  action, 
saying  Je  me  leve.  The  other  pupils  then  say  Charles 
(Boulanger,  or  whatever  may  be  the  "  French  name  " 
of  the  pupil)  s'est  Iev6.  The  action  is  then  performed 
by  two  or  more  pupils,  who  say  Nous  nous  levons ;  and 
the  others  say  Us  se  sont  leve's.  Or  they  may  address 
the  pupil  or  pupils  performing  the  action  in  the  second 
singular  or  plural. 

Such  verbs  are :  se  baisser,  monter,  descendre,  se 
tourner,  saluer,  s'en  aller,  sortir,  s'asseoir,  marcher, 
s'arreter,  s'avancer,  souffler,  venir,  se  suivre,  sus- 
pendre,  parler,  ouvrir,  fermer,  murmurer,  montrer, 
lire,  ecrire,  se  hausser,  enlever,  donner,  courir, 
compter,  crier,  dire,  demander,  entrer,  Jeter,  Her, 
mener,  sourire,  lancer,  rire,  se  pencher. 

Whole  phrases  may  be  "  performed  "  in  this  way, 
for  instance :  t&ter  le  pouls,  mettre  le  livre  sur  le 
bane,  se  placer  devant  la  table,  poser  la  main  sur  le 
pupitre,  fourrer  le  mouchoir  dans  la  poche,  frapper 
a  la  porte,  se  diriger  vers  le  tableau  noir,  appuyer 
le  coude  sur  le  bane,  changer  de  place,  saisir  le  bras 


36  Hints  on  teaching  French 

du  voisin,  faire  un  compliment,  couvrir  la  table  de 
livres  eb  de  cahiers,  plier  un  papier,  etendre  un  bras, 
enfoncer  les  mains  dans  les  cheveux,  passer  devant  la 
classe,  se  tenir  droit,  se"parer  deux  eleves,  secouer  la 
tete,  retenir  quelqu'un,  mettre  un  chapeau,  <Her  un 
chapeau,  entourer  une  personne,  ramasser  un  papier, 
jeter  a  terre,  serrer  la  main,  plonger  la  plume  dans 
1'encre,  donner  une  tape,  croiser  les  bras,  regarder 
par  la  fen^tre,  laisser  tomber  un  livre,  Staler  les 
livres  et  les  cahiers  sur  le  bane,  quitter  sa  place, 
appeler  un  eleve,  remuer  le  bras,  traverser  le  corridor, 
apporter  une  plume,  appuyer  la  tete  dans  les  mains, 
tourner  et  retourner  un  livre,  respirer  profondement, 
tendre  la  main,  envelopper  un  crayon  d'un  papier,  se 
tenir  au  bane,  ranger  les  chaises  autour  de  la  table, 
annoncer  une  personne,  faire  la  moue,  presenter  une 
personne,  tourner  la  t^te,  reciter  une  partie  d'une 
poe'sie,  adresser  une  question,  commander  de  I'eau, 
blamer  une  personne,  enlever  un  livre,  nommer  son 
voisin  (sa  voisine),  remplacer  un  cahier  par  un 
autre,  quitter  la  salle,  prendre  une  plume,  porter 
une  chaise,  placer  la  chaise  devant  la  table,  rouler 
un  crayon,  tenir  le  bras  du  voisin,  toucher  au  livre, 
enfiler  une  aiguille,  emporter  une  chaise,  eminener 
un  enfant,  s'eloigner  de  la  table,  s'elancer  devant  la 
porte,  se  detourner  d'une  personne,  de"plier  une  lettre, 
de'crocher  le  thermometre,  d6poser  le  cahier  sur  la 
table,  boutonner  Thabit,  agiter  le  mouchoir,  mener 
par  la  main. 


RUNNING   COMMENTARY. 


NEW  FIRST  BOOK. 

Teachers  who  attach  importance  to  a  good  pronuncia- 
tion will  naturally  devote  the  first  lessons  to  exercises  in 
producing  those  French  sounds  which  are  unfamiliar  to 
their  Pupils.  (See  the  section  on  pronunciation,  p.  14.) 
Incidentally  they  may  give  their  Pupils  French  names,  as 
is  suggested  on  p.  33. 

1.  The  Teacher  suspends  the  Spring  picture1  in 
view  of  the  whole  class.  Two  facts  are  readily 
ascertained  by  the  Pupils : 

(1)  The  picture  represents  Spring. 

(2)  The  persons  in  the  picture  make  up  a  family 
to  which  we  are  going  to  be  introduced.     We  shall 
consider  how  they  are  related,  what  they  are  doing, 
the  conditions  in  which  they  live ;  and  in  doing  so 
we  shall  be  discussing  in  French  things  and  occur- 
rences with  which  we  are  quite  familiar  from  our 
own  daily  life.     The  picture  is  therefore  a  means  of 
concentrating  the  attention  of  the  Pupils  on  a  con- 
nected group  of  persons,  on  a  definite  scene.     They 
will  not  talk  vaguely  about  the  father,  the  house, 
etc.;  for  them  "the  father"  is  the  man  who  is  har- 
rowing the  field  on  our  picture,  "  the  house "  is  his 
house  (on  the  left).     In  order  that  the  persons  may 
have  an  individuality,  they  receive  names. 

1  I.e.  the  first  of  Dent's  wall  pictures  of  the  seasons. 


38  Running  Commentary 

The  Teacher  points  to  each  child  on  the  picture 
in  turn,  beginning  on  the  left  with  Paul  (sitting  on 
his  grandmother's  lap),  then  passing  to  Cecile  (feed- 
ing the  fowls  and  ducks),  Henri  (in  the  garden), 
Marie,  Charles,  Louise  and  Julie  (playing  together). 
He  utters  each  name  carefully  and  distinctly.  The 
Pupils  pronounce  it  after  him,  singly  or  in  chorus, 
as  he  directs  them.  It  may  be  well  to  let  each 
Pupil  pronounce  the  word  by  himself,  before  letting 
the  class  utter  it  as  a  whole ;  but  if  the  word  is  an 
easy  one  this  is  not  necessary. 

When  all  the  children  have  been  named,  the 
Teacher  points  to  them  in  any  order  he  likes,  and 
the  Pupils  utter  the  names  as  he  does  so. 

He  next  teaches  le  pere  and  la  mire  (she  is  digging 
in  the  garden l)  in  the  same  way.  Then  et :  point- 
ing to  two  persons  in  quick  succession,  he  utters 
their  names  coupled  with  et.  Then  le  jardin  and 
la  maison.  The  definite  and  indefinite  articles  are 
taught  in  connection  with  these  words,2  and  usually 
give  no  difficulty. 

The  Teacher  now  points  to  Charles  and  says  un 
garqon ;  he  points  to  Cecile  and  says  une  fille.  He 

1  In  some  copies  of  the  picture  she  is  using  a  fork,  not  a 
spade  ;  in  that  case  the  Teacher  should  make  the  necessary 
change  by  blacking  in  the  spaces  between  the  prongs  of  the 
fork. 

2  II  n'y  a  qu'une  seule  regie  infaillible  pour  apprendre  les 
genres.     La  voici :  N'apprenez  jamais  un  mot  nouveau  sans  le 
faire  pre"ce"der  d'un  article.  .  .  .  Les  regies  qu'on  trouve  dans 
les  grammaires  offrent  un  si  grand  nombre  d'exceptions  qu'il 
est  inutile  de  perdre  son  temps  a  les  apprendre. — BERTHON, 
Prem.  gram.  fran?. ,  p.  27. 


New  First  Book:  No.  i  39 

applies  the  same  words  to  the  other  boys  and  girls  on 
the  picture,  and  the  Pupils  quickly  see  what  theymean. 

The  Teacher  then  says  Charles  est  un  garqon.  Here 
only  est  is  new  to  the  Pupil,  who  gathers  its  meaning 
from  its  position  and  can  himself  make  the  sentences : 
Henri  est  un  gar$on :  Paul  est  un  gar$on  ;  Marie  est  une 
fille  ;  etc. 

The  Teacher  asks  in  a  tone  of  voice  which  is 
obviously  interrogative  :  Qui  est-ce  qui  est  un  garyon  ? 
There  are  sure  to  be  a  few  among  his  Pupils  who 
see  what  is  meant,  and  reply  e.g.  Charles  est  un  gar$on. 
Then  the  rest  will  understand  it  too,  and  suggest  the 
further  answers  Paul  est  un  gar$on,  Henri  est  un  garpn. 
Then  follows  the  question  Qui  est-ce  qui  est  une  fille  ? 
with  its  answers,  and  questions  with  qu'est-ce  que. 

In  this  way  the  Teacher  conveys  and  the  Pupils 
acquire  the  meaning  of  the  words  in  the  first  lesson. 
As  far  as  possible  the  Pupils  have  been  made  to  find 
things  out  for  themselves ;  they  have  been  kept  on 
the  alert  by  frequent  and  varied  questioning  •  they 
have  heard  and  spoken  nothing  but  French. 

The  second  part  of  the  lesson  contains  grammatical 
terms.  The  Teacher  will  use  his  discretion  here  :  it 
will  do  no  harm  if  he  passes  them  over,  it  may  do 
some  good  to  let  his  pupils  learn  them.  The  simpler 
facts  of  French  grammar  can  well  be  treated  in 
French,  especially  as  many  of  the  terms  are  so  much 
like  those  used  in  English  grammar;  where  a  real 
difficulty  presents  itself,  it  will  often  be  well  to  dis- 
cuss it  in  English.  The  grammatical  part  of  the 
lessons  is  summed  up  at  the  end  of  each  section  (see 
Nos.  23,  33,  46,  52,  64). 


40  Running  Commentary 

At  the  end  of  some  of  the  lessons  are  given  class- 
room phrases  which  are  necessarily  often  used  by  the 
Teacher,  and  the  repetition  of  which  soon  makes 
them  familiar  to  the  Pupils.  They  understand  the 
phrases  as  a  whole,  just  as  a  little  child  obeys  a 
command,  though  it  does  not  distinguish  each  word. 
It  would  be  a  mistake  to  analyse  such  class-room 
phrases  at  this  early  stage ;  on  the  other  hand  the 
Teacher  will  emphasise  the  meaning  by  the  tone  of 
his  voice,  by  gesture,  etc.  See  p.  35. 

For  homework  the  Pupils  read  through  the  lesson 
(aloud  or  silently,  or  both,  as  the  Teacher  directs), 
and  the  questions  given  under  JExercices,  which  they 
answer.  These  Exercices  provide  for  a  thorough 
revision  of  what  has  been  learnt.  In  the  early 
stages  there  is  no  need  to  set  written  home  work.  It 
is  easy  for  the  Teacher  to  ascertain  by  questions  on 
what  has  been  learnt  that  no  Pupils  are  lagging 
behind. 

A  good  test  in  a  lesson  is  to  dictate,  say,  five 
questions  and  require  the  Pupils  to  write  answers ; 
at  the  same  time  a  good  Pupil  (or  two)  may  write 
the  answers  on  the  blackboard.  Unless  writing  is 
introduced  soon,  similarly  sounded  words  tend  to 
get  confused. 

2.  In  the  second  lesson  our  object  is  to  give  the 
Pupils  some  idea  of  the  verb. 

Teacher:  "I  am  going  to  tell  you  what  some 
people  and  animals  on  the  picture  are  doing.  First 
I  shall  name  their  occupations  in  a  general  way. 
(Pointing  to  le  pere :)  travailler ;  (to  la  mere  :)  travailler; 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  I,  2  41 

(to  Ce'cik  :)  travailkr ;  (to  Charles :)  jouer  ;  (to  Marie 
and  the  other  girls :)  jouer ;  (to  le  canard :)  nager." 
(The  Pupils  repeat  these  words  after  him.)  "  I  have 
named  their  occupation ;  I  am  now  going  to  assert  it 
in  little  sentences,  showing  clearly  that  they  are  so 
occupied  at  this  moment.  La  mere  travaille.  Charles 
joue.  Le  canard  nage,  etc.  (The  Pupils  observe  the 
difference  of  sound,  afterwards  that  of  form.) 

"  Now  I  want  you  to  name  or  to  assert  the  occupa- 
tions of  the  people  or  animals  I  point  to."  The 
Teacher  points  e.g.  to  Louise  and  says  :  Occupation  ! 
A  Pupil  (or  the  whole  class)  says :  jouer.  Assert ! 
Louise  joue. 

The  Pupil  realises  anew  the  distinction  between 
the  infinitive  and  a  personal  (finite)  form  of  the 
verb,  which  he  has  already  met  with  in  English ;  he 
notices  the  difference  in  form,  and  observes  that  fait 
is  peculiar ;  and  he  learns  the  forms  il  and  elle,  their 
substitution  for  names  of  persons  already  familiar 
showing  him  that  they  refer  to  the  two  genders. 

In  the  following  lesson  (as  indeed  in  every  lesson), 
the  Teacher  will  begin  by  making  sure  that  the 
Pupils  have  revised  what  they  have  learnt.  To  this 
end  he  may  read  the  questions  given  under  Exercice, 
and  get  individual  Pupils  to  answer  them;  or  the 
questions  may  be  asked  in  chorus  and  answered 
individually  or  in  chorus;  or  the  books  may  be 
closed,  and  the  Teacher  then  asks  any  question  he 
likes ;  or  a  single  Pupil  may  ask  the  questions  and 
call  upon  another  to  answer  them.  If  there  are 
several  possible  answers  to  a  question,  they  should 


42  Running  Commentary 

all  be  given  at  this  early  stage :  frequent  repetition 
is  essential  if  fluency  of  speech  is  desired. 

Some  Teachers  have  the  habit  of  repeating  a  question  which 
a  Pupil  has  not  understood,  very  slowly— far  more  slowly  than 
would  ever  be  the  case  in  actual  conversation.  This  often 
leads  to  an  unnatural  pronunciation,  which  the  Pupils  had 
better  not  hear.  When  a  particular  kind  of  question  appears 
for  the  first  time,  the  Teacher  should  make  sure  that  its  com- 
ponent parts  are  well  understood ;  the  question  as  a  whole 
should  neither  be  uttered  at  excessive  speed  nor  with  an 
unnatural  slowness,  but  in  a  natural  conversational  tone. 

3.  The  meaning  of  the  words  in  the  first  eight 
lines  of  this  lesson  presents  no  difficulty. 

The  rest  of  the  lesson  deals  with  the  formation  of 
the  plural.  It  is  probably  best  to  let  the  Pupils 
read  one  section  after  the  other,  and  then  to  ask 
them  what  they  imagine  its  purpose  to  be.  The 
way  in  which  it  is  printed  will  enable  almost  any 
Pupil  to  give  the  right  answer ;  to  print  the  plural 
endings  in  some  special  type  would  have  left  too 
little  to  the  Pupil,  who  should  never  be  told  what 
he  can  find  out  for  himself. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  lesson  a  short  exercise  in 
pronunciation  is  given,  showing  changes  due  to 
liaison. 

Exerdce  B.  The  Pupils  themselves  will  be  able 
to  gather  from  the  Exemple  what  is  required  of 
them. 

4.  The  adjective  (like  the  verb)  is  taught  in  con- 
nection with  a  substantive  of  which  it  is  a  more  or 
less  characteristic  attribute.     In  some  cases  (e.g.  le 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  2-4  43 

cJiien  est  fidele)  there  is  not  likely  to  be  much  doubt; 
but  in  such  a  sentence  as  Paul  est  jeune  there  might 
be  some  uncertainty.  The  further  sentence  Julie  est 
jeune  shows  it  must  refer  to  some  quality  common  to 
both  children.  If  this  does  not  suffice  to  suggest  the 
meaning,  the  Teacher  may  remark :  "I  could  not 
say  jeune  of  this  man  (pointing  to  the  grandfather) 
or  of  this  woman  (the  grandmother)." 

A  fresh  interrogative  phrase  is  introduced  in  this 
lesson,  viz.  qu'est-ce  qui  (asking  for  an  animal  or 
thing).  In  connection  with  this  the  Teacher  will 
make  sure  that  the  Pupils  are  quite  clear  about 
qui  est-ce  qui  (asking  for  a  person,  sometimes 
for  an  animal),  and  qu' est-ce  que  (asking  for  a  de- 
scription of  a  substantive  by  means  of  another 
substantive). 

The  word  comment  deserves  special  attention;  it 
asks  for  some  quality  pertaining  to  a  substantive. 
This  the  Pupils  are  likely  to  discover  for  themselves 
from  the  tone  of  voice  in  which  the  question  is 
uttered  and  from  the  answer  given;  but  if  the 
Teacher  has  any  reason  to  doubt  that  all  the  Pupils 
see  clearly  what  a  word  means,  he  will  not  hesitate 
to  ask  for  the  English  equivalent.  In  every  class 
there  are  some  Pupils  of  slow  habits  of  mind;  and 
it  is  not  well  to  ignore  them. 

The  Pupils  gather  from  the  examples  in  this 
lesson  the  main  rules  for  the  formation  of  the 
feminine  and  the  plural  of  adjectives.  They  note 
that  those  in  -e  have  the  same  form  for  both 
genders ;  and  that  the  addition  of  -e  in  the  case  of 
some  others  leads  to  a  change  in  pronunciation. 


44  Running  Commentary 

Exercice  C.  These  numbers  should  be  read 
rapidly  in  French.  It  is  well  to  give  the  order 
Comptez/  at  the  end  of  each  lesson,  and  to  let  the 
Pupils  say  in  chorus  the  numbers  they  have  learnt, 
forwards  and  backwards ;  e.g.  at  the  end  of  this 
lesson  they  will  say:  un,  deux,  trois,  quatre ;  quatre, 
trois,  deux,  un. 

5.  The  -e  of  the  feminine  affects  the  pronunciation 
in  grand,  petit,  haut,  vert  (No.  4),  and  in  ouvert, 
laborieux,  joyeux,  heureux,  bon  (No.  5).  In  addition 
we  have  the  'exceptional'  forms  blanche  and  belle. 
This  lesson  is  best  taken  with  the  open  book ;  but 
slowly,  leaving  the  Pupils  enough  time  to  observe 
and  assimilate  several  new  facts,  e.g.  the  position  of 
aussi,  the  plural  forms  of  several  adjectives,  the  use 
of  the  adjective  in  the  masculine  plural  when  it 
refers  to  a  masculine  and  a  feminine  subject. 

The  form  bel  (which  occurs  in  the  proverb)  is 
found  again  in  a  footnote,  to  show  that  while  it  is 
not  of  primary  importance,  yet  it  will  be  well  to 
remember  it,  until  something  similar  is  met  with 
later  on  (well  occurs  in  No.  11). 

The  children  like  to  learn  proverbs.  The  Teacher 
will  ask  them  for  the  English  equivalent ;  in  many 
cases  they  will  have  occasion  to  observe  that  the 
French  is  by  no  means  a  literal  rendering  of  the 
English. 

Particular  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  pro- 
nunciation of  the  numerals ;  notice  the  scheme  on 
p.  35. 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  4-7  45 

6.  We  have  here  some  examples  of  the  adjective 
following  its  substantive,  which  is  very  unusual  in 
English,  and  is  therefore   readily   noticed   by   the 
Pupils.     It  would  be  a  mistake  to  give  them  rules 
for  this  at  present;  it  suffices  to  let   them  collect 
instances  from  the  text,  and  to  correct  such  mis- 
takes as  they  may  make  in  speaking. 

The  meaning  of  ou  will  be  clear  from  the  tone  of 
voice  in  which  the  question  is  uttered,  and  from  the 
answer,  which  is  supplied  at  once.  Here  also  the 
Teacher  may  find  it  advisable  to  ask  for  the  English 
word,  if  some  of  his  Pupils  look  at  all  puzzled. 

By  learning  the  four  prepositions  given  in  this 
lesson,  the  Pupils  are  enabled  to  form  quite  a  large 
number  of  sentences,  without  any  difficulty.  If  we 
take  dans  as  an  example,  we  obtain  Qui  est-ce  qui  (or : 
qu'est-ce  qui)  est  dans  le  jardin?  Un  homme,  la  mere, 
Henri,  un  arbre,  les  fleurs.  Dans  I'eau?  Le  canard, 
k  caneton.  Dans  le  pr6?  Les  fleurs,  Vherbe,  r arbre. 
Dans  le  village  ?  La  maison,  I'dglise.  The  Pupils 
should  give  full  answers  to  each  of  these  questions, 
as  a  help  towards  fluent  speech. 

The  pronunciation  of  six,  dans  and  devant  before 
words  beginning  with  a  vowel  requires  special  care, 
and  a  number  of  suitable  examples  have  conse- 
quently been  given.  Similar  examples  of  liaison,1 
etc.,  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  subsequent  lessons. 

7.  This  lesson   deals   mainly  with   the   so-called 
'genitive.'     In  French,  as  in  English,  it  is  formed 

1  See  the  note  on  liaison  (p.  24). 


46  Running  Commentary 

by  means  of  a  preposition,  and  therefore  presents  no 
special  difficulty  to  our  Pupils.  It  may  be  left  to 
the  discretion  of  the  Teacher,  whether  he  gives  the 
term  ge'nitif  or  not.  It  is  certainly  useful;  it  is 
familiar  to  those  who  learn  German  or  Latin; 
and  undoubtedly  de  plus  substantive  has  certain 
functions  which  are  best  designated  as  genitival. 
The  term  *  genitive '  will  also  be  found  convenient 
when  we  deal  with  the  pronouns  (en,  duquel, 
dont,  etc.). 

Almost  all  the  examples  given  in  this  lesson  are 
*  partitive'  genitives.  It  may  be  useful  to  let  the 
Pupils  understand  this  common  use  of  the  genitive 
The  lesson  might  proceed  somewhat  as  follows : — 

Teacher  (pointing  to  window).  What  is  that  ? 

Pupil.  La  fenUre. 

T.  The  window  is  a  part  of  .  .  .  ? 

P.  La  maison. 

T.  Yes,  it  is  'the  window  of  the  house.7  In 
French  we  call  it  'la  fen£tre  de  la  maison.'  (The 
words  in  *  .  .  .  '  are  written  on  the  board.)  What 
part  of  speech  is  oft 

P.  A  preposition. 

T.  de  aussi  est  une  proposition.  (Pointing  to  door :) 
La  porte  de  la  maison.  (Pointing  to  roof,  and  inviting 
pupil  to  answer :) 

P.  Le  toit  de  la  maison.  Le  toit  de  I'dglise,  etc.  (as 
in  book).  (T.  points  to  gate  of  garden  :) 

P.  La  port  e  de  le  jar  din.1 

1  Some  Teachers  object  to  this,  and  prefer  to  tell  the  Pupil 
that  he  must  use  du,  des,  not  letting  him  make  the  mistake 
even  once.  I  do  not  share  this  objection. 


New  First  Book:  No.  7  47 

T.  No,  you  must  bear  in  mind  that  de  le  melt 
together  into  du.  What  is  it  then  1 

P.  La  porte  du  jardin,  etc.  (as  in  book). 

T.  La  porte  du  jardin.  What  should  we  say  if  we 
meant  all  the  gates  and  all  the  gardens  in  the 
village  ? 

P.  Les  portes  de  les  jardins. 

T.  I  told  you  just  now  that  we  must  not  say  de  le, 
but  du  y  in  the  same  way  we  say,  not  de  les,  but  des. 
What  will  you  say  in  this  case  ? 

P.  Les  portes  des  jardins. 

T.  I  shall  point  to  different  things,  and  you  will 
give  me  the  plurals  of  the  part  and  of  the  whole. 

P.  Les  portes  des  maisons,  les  toils  des  maisons,  les 
fen&tres  des  maisons. 

T.  Now  let  me  see  how  many  objects  you  can 
tell  me  which  are  parts  of  other  objects  on  the 
picture. 

The  Pupils  will  quickly  collect  a  large  number  of 
instances.  They  know  45  substantives  (excluding 
proper  names),  and  the  following  combinations  are 
possible  : — 

Toit,  f entire,  porte :  moulin,  maison,  e'glise,  ferme. 

Maison,  ferme,  e'glise,  pre*,  jardin,  champ  :  village. 

Arbre  :  foret,  pr6,  jardin,  champ,  colline,  montagne. 

Herbe  :  prt,  fortt,  jardin,  champ. 

Fleurs :  prd,  jardin,  arbre,  bouquet. 

Branche:  arbre. 

Pied :  homme,  pere,  mere,  enfant. 

Patte:  oiseau. 

Plume :  oiseau,  canard. 

Roue :  moulin. 

Neige :  montagne. 


48  Running  Commentary 

As  each  object  is  mentioned,  a  Pupil  may  point  it 
out  on  the  picture ;  others  may  say  or  write  the 
plural. 

This  exercise  amounts  to  a  thorough  recapitula- 
tion of  the  substantives. 

8.  Some  Pupils  probably  noticed  that  ks  petits  d'un 
canard  in  No.  7  does  not  give  the  relation  of  the 
part  to  the  whole. 

The  Teacher  will  refer  to  this  in  dealing  with  the 
*  possessive'  genitive,  of  which  No.  8  contains 
examples. 

The  great  majority  of  genitives  are  partitive  or 
possessive  ;  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  the  Pupils 
meet  with  such  expressions  as  se  repentir  d'unefaute. 

The  Pupils  are  again  invited  to  find  further 
examples  of  *  thing  possessed  and  possessor';  but 
it  need  not  be  an  exhaustive  collection  this  time,  as 
there  was^uch  a  full  recapitulation  in  the  last  lesson. 

The  answers  with  dest  and  ce  sont  will  require  a 
good  deal  of  practice;  the  answers  with  void  and 
voilh  should  always  be  accompanied  by  action,  the 
Pupil  pointing  to  the  object  (on  the  wall-picture,  on 
the  little  picture  in  his  book,  or  in  the  class  room). 

9.  The  '  partitive   article '  seems  strange  to  our 
Pupils ;  and  they  have  to  be  prepared  for  it.     The 
Teacher  takes  such  a  sentence  as  Le  paysan  a  troisfils, 
where  a  definite  number  is  given.     He  points  out 
that  it  does  not  do  in  French  simply  to  omit  the 
numeral,  if  you  wish  to  say  '  he  has  sons/  but  that 
you  must  say  Le  paysan  a  des  fils.     He  then  gives 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  7-9  49 

fchem  similar  sentences  containing  numerals,  for 
which  they  substitute  sentences  in  which  the  number 
is  left  vague ;  e.g.  Le  paysan  a  guatre  files  ;  Us  parents 
out  trois  fils  ;  Us  out  sept  enfants  ;  le  paysan  a  deux 
chevaux,  etc. 

The  Pupils  understand  sentences  like  Uherbe  est 
dans  le  pr6,  la  neige  est  sur  la  montagne.  The  Teacher 
tells  them  that  this  means  all  the  grass  and  all  the 
snow  we  see ;  but  when  we  are  not  talking  of  all, 
but  only  of  some  grass  or  snow,  we  say  (void)  de  la 
neige :,  (void)  de  Vherbe. 

Sentences  like  Les  enfants  sont  devant  le  jardin  pre- 
sent no  difficulty.  The  Teacher  explains  that  when 
we  do  not  refer  to  any  particular  children,  we  say 
II  y  a  des  enfants  devant  le  jardin.  This  construction 
will  startle  the  children,  and  numerous  instances 
will  be  required  before  they  feel  at  their  ease  in 
using  it.  No  doubt  some  Pupils  will  suggest  sen- 
tences like  Dans  le  jardin  il  y  a  Henri,  dans  le  champ 
il  y  a  le  paysan.  This  (the  Teacher  will  say)  would 
be  stiff  and  unnatural ;  the  simpler  way  of  putting  it 
is :  Henri  est  dans  le  jardin,  le  paysan  est  dans  le  champ. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  lesson  we  have  du  pain. 
Cases  of  the  partitive  article  in  the  singular  are  not 
common  at  this  stage,  and  such  instances  as  occur 
should  be  carefully  collected  by  the  Pupils.  It  will 
be  well  occasionally  to  let  them  form  sentences 
containing  the  partitive  article  du,  de  la,  de  V.  It 
might  be  pointed  out  that  the  partitive  article  is 
identical  in  form  with  the  genitive  case,  and  the 
brighter  Pupils  would  be  able  to  suggest  how  the 
meaning  has  developed. 


50  Running  Commentary 

The  plurals  in,  -aux  and  -eaux  are  noted  by  the 
Pupils. 

The  sentences  with  il  y  a  on  p.  1 1  should  be  com- 
mitted to  memory ;  they  anticipate  the  interrogative 
form  (a-t-il).  The  negative  is  dealt  with  in  the  next 
lesson. 

10.  The  Pupils  soon  see  that  ne  precedes  and  pas 
follows   the   verb;    but  it   takes   some   little   time 
before  they  use  the  negative  fluently.     Numerous 
examples  provide  still  further  material.     In  Exerdce 
C  the  Pupils  supply  the  forms  est,  a,  sont,  wit;  in 
D,  E,  they  use  the  same  forms  negatively.     B  is 
added  as  a  test  of  pronunciation ;   it  is  necessarily 
somewhat  changed  in  the  Phonetic  Section  (p.  13). 

11.  The  text  should  be  read  slowly,  sentence  by 
sentence.     The  Teacher  must  make  sure  that  his 
Pupils  clearly  understand  the  relationships  indicated ; 
to  this  end  he  will  reproduce  the   'tree'  (top  of 
p.   14)  on  the  blackboard  and  also  the   following 
scheme  of  the  generations  : — 

I.  Grand-pere,  grand'mere. 

II.  Pere,  mere;  oncle,  tante. 

III.  [Moi],  frere,  sosur ;  [cousin,  cousine 1], 

IV.  Fils,  fille;  neveu,  niece. 
V.  Petit-fils,  petite-fille. 

Plenty  of  practice  is  afforded  by  Exerdce  D. 

The  Pupils  are  interested  to  hear  how  old  Henri, 

1  These  may  be  added,  though  they  do  not  occur  till 
No.  27. 


New  First  Book:  Wfos.  9-12  51 

Cecile  and  the  rest  are.  The  questions  may  be 
varied  :  Qui  est-ce  qui  a  neuf  ans  ?  Quel  dge  a  Paul  ? 
Charles  a-t-il  huit  ans  ?  N'a-t-il  pas  six  ans  ?  Ques- 
tions like  the  third  of  these  (beginning  with  subject) 
are  troublesome,  and  several  should  be  given,  in 
addition  to  those  found  in  the  next  section. 

On  coming  upon  vieil,  the  Pupils  recall  bel  (No.  5). 

Several  sentences  with  de  qui  and  de  quoi  should 
be  given. 

Observe  the  contractions  M.  (never  Mons.),  but 
Mme  and  Mile  (no  point). 

12.  If  the  Pupils  have  thoroughly  learnt  the 
preceding  lessons,  the  mere  reading  of  this  one  will 
enable  them  to  gather  such  fresh  information  as  it 
contains  and  to  work  through  the  Exercices. 

Questions  like  the  following  might  be  added : 
Dans  quel  champ  M.  Auguste  travaille-t-il  ?  Avec  quelle 
beche  Mme  Rose  travaille-t-elle  ?  Avec  qui  Charles 
joue-t-il  ?  The  Pupils  introduce  possessive  pronouns 
in  the  answers. 

In  order  to  give  the  Pupils  some  confidence,  it 
may  not  be  too  early  to  call  one  or  the  other  to 
the  picture,  and  let  him  describe,  in  connected 
sentences,  some  feature  of  it.  Thus  the  Pupil  may 
be  asked  to  speak  about  the  children,  and  will 
perhaps  say  (pointing  to  each  as  he  mentions  the 
name) :  C'est  Charles.  Charles  est  un  garpon ;  il  joue 
devant  le  jardin.  II  joue  avec  ses  sceurs.  II  a  quatre 
sceurs.  Les  quatre  so2urs  sont  Marie,  Julie,  Louise  et 
Ce'cile.  Ce'cile  ne  joue  pas,  elle  travaille.  Charles  a  deux 
freres.  Les  deux  freres  sont  Henri  et  Paul.  Henri  est 


52  Running  Commentary 

le  gar$on  qui  est  dans  le  jardin.     Henri  est  grand,  Paul 
est petit.     La  grand' mer  e  porte  Paul. 

The  Pupils  may  also  be  required  to  ask  each  other 
questions.  The  Teacher  either  selects  two  for  the 
purpose;  or  one,  who  addresses  a  question  to 
another,  who  answers  it  and  asks  a  question  of  a 
third,  until  all  the  Pupils  have  asked  and  answered. 
Or  all  the  Pupils  may  be  asked  to  put  a  question  (in 
writing)  to  some  person,  on  the  picture ;  each  passes 
his  question  on  to  his  neighbour,  who  writes  the 
answer.  Then  questions  and  answers  are  read  out, 
the  class  as  a  whole,  or  some  individual  Pupil,  being 
asked  to  correct  mistakes. 

13.  This  lesson  contains  a  number  of  transitive 
verbs,  and  the  Teacher  is  recommended  to  have  an 
introductory  talk  about  the  *  direct  object'  in 
English  grammar,  as  children  often  have  very  vague 
ideas  about  it. 

When  their  ideas  have  become  clear,  he  can  pro- 
ceed to  a  discussion  of  the  four  interrogative  phrases. 
Two  of  them  (qui  est-ce  qui  and  qu'est-ce  qui)  were 
learnt  some  time  ago;  we  now  have  to  teach  qui 
est-ce  que  and  qu'est-ce  que.  This  may  be  done  some- 
what after  the  following  fashion l : — 

Teacher.  Ask  for  the  substantive  to  which  the  verb 
jouer  can  be  applied. 

Pupil.  Qui  est-ce  qui  joue  ? 

T.  And  now  for  the  substantive  to  which  the  ad- 
jective blanc  can  be  applied. 

1  Many  teachers  will  prefer  to  use  French  much  more  than 
is  done  in  this  place  ;  the  lesson  is  intended  as  a  help  to  the 
beginner  in  reform  method  work. 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  12,  13  53 

P.  Qu'est-ce  qui  est  Uanc  ? 

T.  Why  do  we  use  qui  est-ce  qui  in  the  first  question, 
and  qu'est-ce  qui  in  the  second  ? 

P.  Because  we  are  asking  for  a  person  (short  for 
"living  being")  in  the  first  sentence,  and  for  a  thing 
in  the  second. 

T.  What  is  therefore  the  first  part  if  we  ask  for 
a  person  1 

P.  Qui  est-ce. 

T.  If  we  ask  for  a  thing  1 

P.  Qu'est-ce. 

T.  I  shall  now  give  you  some  sentences :  La 
grand'mere  porte.  La  grand'mere  regarde.  Henri 
mange.  Henri  regarde.  What  would  you  say  of 
these  sentences? 

P.  They  are  not  complete. 

T.  Right ;  a  part  of  the  sentence  is  wanting ;  we 
do  not  know  what  the  grandmother  is  carrying,  what 
Henry  is  eating.  Do  you  know  what  this  part  of 
the  sentence  is  called  1 

P.  The  direct  object. 

T.  Quite  right.  Now  I  am  going  to  ask  for  the 
object  of  these  incomplete  sentences ; '  notice  what 
words  I  use  for  this  purpose.  Qui  est-ce  que  la  grand'- 
mere parte  ?  Qu'est-ce  que  Henri  mange  ?  Qui  est-ce  que 
la  grand'mere  regarde?  Qu'est-ce  que  Henri  regarde? 
Who  can  tell  me  what  words  I  have  used  for 
asking  1 

P.  Qui  est-ce  que,  qu' est-ce  que. 

T.  What  is  common  to  both  1 

P.  Que. 

T.  I  wonder  why  both  have  this  que. 


54  Running  Commentary 

P.  Because  we  are  asking  for  the  direct  object 
in  both  cases. 

T.  You  are  right.  We  have  often  asked  for  the 
subject  of  a  sentence ;  did  we  then  use  phrases  with 
que  at  the  end  1 

P.  No,  we  said  qui  est-ce  qui,  qu'est-ce  qui. 

T.  When  you  wish  to  ask  a  question  with  one  of 
these  phrases,  you  must  therefore  be  clear  about  two 
things,  namely : 

P.  Whether  we  are  asking  for  a  person  or  a  thing, 
and  whether  it  is  the  subject  or  the  object  of  the 
sentence. 

T.  Which  of  these  must  you  settle  first  ? 

P.  Whether  it  is  a  person  or  a  thing. 

T.  Your  reason  being  ? 

P.  It  will  show  whether  the  first  of  the  questioning 
words  is  qui  or  que. 

(The  Teacher  now  asks  the  Pupils  to  give  the 
right  form  of  the  questioning  words  in  answer  to 
"  Person  Subject  ?  Thing  Object  1  Person  Object  ? 
Thing  Subject?") 

T.  Now  look  at  the  picture.  Search  for  persons 
and  things  of  which  we  can  say  porter.  Now,  Charles, 
ask  the  question. 

Charles.  Qui  est-ce  qui  porte  ? 

T.  Who  can  give  the  answer  1  (Several  hands  go 
up.  T.  selects  one.) 

P,  La  grand'mere  porte. 

T.  Good.     What  other  question  can  we  ask  now  1 

P.  Qui  est-ce  que  la  grand'mere  porte  ? 

T.  Answer  ] 

P.  La  grand'mkre  porte  Paul, 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  13-18          55 

Similarly  fimilie  porte  un  bouquet,  la  maison  porte  le 
toit,  etc.,  until  the  possibilities  of  porter  are  exhausted. 

14-18.  Each  of  these  lessons  (and  many  later  on) 
is  complete  in  itself  and  might  have  a  title ;  thus : 
les  fleurs  (14);  la  cuisine  (15) ;  le  moulin,  les  arbres 
(16);  les  oiseaux  (17) ;  le  printemps  (18).  The  Pupils 
should  be  asked  to  supply  them. 

Up  to  this  point  the  lessons  have  been  given  very 
much  as  they  are  in  the  book ;  but  the  Pupils  now 
have  a  sufficient  vocabulary  for  something  like  con- 
versation. When  a  lesson  has  been  gone  through  in 
school,  and  the  Exercices  have  been  done  as  home- 
work, the  subject-matter  may  be  discussed  more 
freely.  The  following  may  serve  as  examples : — 

Les  fleurs  (No.  14). 

Ou  y  a-t-il  des  fleurs  blanches  ?  II  y  a  des  fleurs 
blanches  sur  le  cerisier.1  De  quel  arbre  les  fleurs  ne 
sont-elles  pas  blanches  ?  De  quelle  couleur  sont  les 
fleurs  du  pommier  ?  Les  fleurs  du  pommier  sont 
rougeatres.  Qu'est-ce  que  les  fleurs  ornent?  Elles 
ornent  les  arbres.  Quand  les  arbres  sont-ils  en  fleur  ? 
Us  sont  en  fleur  au  printemps.  Ou,  sur  le  tableau, 
y  a-t-il  des  fleurs  qui  ne  sont  pas  blanches  ?  Devant 
la  fen£tre  de  la  ferme  il  y  a  des  fleurs  qui  rie  sont 
pas  blanches.  Comment  sont  ces  fleurs  ?  Elles  sont 
rouges.  Qui  est-ce  qui  plante  les  fleurs  ?  C'est  la 
paysanne  qui  plante  les  fleurs.  Ou  les  plante-t-elle  ? 
Elle  les  plante  dans  les  pots  et  dans  le  jardin.  Quelles 
fleurs  y  a-t-il  dans  le  jardin  1  Dans  le  jardin  il  y  a 

1  The  answers  should  be  complete  sentence?. 


56  Running  Commentary 

des  roses,  des  tulipes,  etc.  Les  roses  sont-elles 
blanches  comme  les  fleurs  du  cerisier?  Les  roses 
sont  quelquefois  blanches,  mais  elles  sont  aussi  rouges 
ou  jaunes.  Ou  y  a-t-il  aussi  des  fleurs  1  II  y  en  a 
dans  les  pre's.  Comment  s'appellent  les  fleurs  qui 
sont  dans  les  pre's  1  Dans  les  pres  il  y  a  des  mar- 
guerites, des  primeveres,  des  violettes.  De  quelles 
fleurs  le  parfum  est-il  tres  agreable  ?  Le  parf um  des 
roses,  des  geraniums  est  tres  agreable. 

Les  oiseaux  (No.  17). 

Qu'est-ce  que  c'est  1  C'est  un  oiseau.  Quel  oiseau 
est-ce  ?  C'est  un  e'tourneau.  Ou  est  1'etourneau  1 
II  est  sur  le  cerisier.  Devant  quoi  est-il  ?  II  est 
devant  le  nichoir.  Qu'est-ce  que  le  nichoir  ?  C'est 
la  petite  demeure  de  1'e'tourneau.  Qu'est-ce  qu'il  y  a 
done  dans  le  nichoir  qui  est  sur  le  cerisier  ?  II  y  a 
le  nid  de  1'e'tourneau.  Est-ce  que  c'est  1'e'tourneau 
qui  fait  le  nichoir  1  Non,  monsieur,  c'est  le 
paysan.  Pourquoi  le  paysan  place-t-il  le  nichoir 
sur  1'arbre  ?  L'etourneau  est  tres  utile.  Par  quoi 
1'e'tourneau  est-il  utile?  L'etourneau  mange  les 
insectes  qui  mangent  les  fleurs  des  arbres.  A  qui 
1'e'tourneau  apporte-t-il  les  insectes  ?  II  les  apporte 
a  ses  petits.  Dans  quoi  les  porte-t-il  ?  II  les  porte 
dans  son  bee.  L'etourneau  est-il  blanc  1  Non, 
monsieur,  il  n'est  pas  blanc,  il  est  noir.1  Les  oiseaux 
qui  sont  devant  la  ferme  sont-ils  des  e*tourneaux? 
Non,  monsieur,  ce  ne  sont  pas  des  etourneaux,  ce 

1  This  kind  of  answer  is  used  purposely,  to  afford  practice  in 
forming  the  negative. 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  14-18          57 

sont  des  hirondelles.  De  quelle  couleur  sont  les 
hirondelles  1  Elles  sont  blanches  et  noires.  Combien 
d'hirondelles  y  a-t-il  devant  la  ferme?  II  y  en  a 
trois.  Les  hirondelles  ont-elles  aussi  des  nichoirs  1 
Non,  monsieur,  elles  n'ont  pas  de  nichoir.  Oil  ont- 
elles  leurs  nids  1  Elles  les  ont  sous  le  toit  de  la 
ferme.  Leur  nid  est-il  grand  1  Non,  monsieur,  il 
n'est  pas  grand,  il  est  petit.  Ou  y  a-t-il  d'autres 
oiseaux]  II  y  a  d'autres  oiseaux  sur  le  toit  de  la 
ferme.  Comment  s'appellent  ces  oiseaux  ?  Ce  sont 
des  cigognes.  Combien  y  en  a-t-il  ?  II  y  en  a  deux. 
Le  nid  des  cigognes  est-il  grand  1  Oui,  monsieur,  ce 
nid  est  tres  grand.  Quels  oiseaux  y  a-t-il  devant  le 
jardin  1  Devant  le  jardin  il  y  a  des  poules,  des 
coqs  et  des  moineaux.  Quel  est  le  nom  des  petits 
oiseaux  qui  sont  pres  du  ruisseau  ?  Ce  sont  des 
canetons.  Qu'est-ce  que  les  canetons  1  Ce  sont  les 
petits  des  canards.  A  qui  les  ceufs  des  canards 
et  des  poules  sont-ils  utiles  ?  Us  sont  utiles  a 
Phomme.  Que  fait  Phomme  avec  les  oeufs  des  poules 
et  des  canards  ?  II  les  mange.  Quels  oiseaux 
les  poules  sont-elles?  Des  oiseaux  domestiques. 
Quels  autres  oiseaux  sont  aussi  des  oiseaux  domes- 
tiques 1  Les  canards  sont  aussi  des  oiseaux  domes- 
tiques. Combien  de  pattes  les  oiseaux  ont-ils  ?  Us 
ont  deux  pattes.  Combien  de  bees  ont-ils  ?  Us  ont 
un  bee.  Qu'est-ce  que  les  oiseaux  ont  pour  voler  1 
Us  ont  deux  ailes  pour  voler.  Y  a-t-il  des  oiseaux 
qui  ne  volent  pas  ?  Oui,  monsieur,  les  canards  ne 
volent  pas. 

The  amount  of  Grammar  to  be  acquired  in  Nog, 


58  Running  Commentary 

14-18  is  not  large;  special  attention  can  be  devoted 
to  the  Vocabulary,  in  which  there  is  a  notable 
increase. 

Observe  entrer  dans  (15). 

In  16  it  will  be  well  to  add  some  questions  like 
Est-ce  que  la  mere  cultive  kjardin  ?  Est-ce  que  Charles 
aime  ses  swurs ?  Est-ce  que  Marie  aime  Louise?  The 
Pupils  answer,  substituting  personal  pronouns  for 
le  jardin,  ses  soeurs,  Louise. 

In  18,  observe  le  paysan  va  au  champ,  where  a  is  a 
preposition  of  place  ;  in  21  we  meet  with  the 
-'  dative/  In  defleur  enfleur  we  have  an  instance  of 
de  as  a  preposition  of  place ;  the  use  of  de  to  form 
the  *  genitive '  occurred  some  time  ago  (7). 

19,  20.  In  these  two  lessons  various  persons  on  the 
picture  speak  of  their  relations,  and  thus  supply  the 
Pupils  with  the  possessive  pronouns  of  the  1st  and 
2nd  person,  and  certain  forms  of  avoir  and  Ure.  As 
each  new  fact  is  ascertained,  it  is  written  on  the 
blackboard,  until  we  have  something  like  the 
arrangement  at  the  top  of  p.  28.  It  requires  a 
good  deal  of  practice  before  the  new  materials  are 
thoroughly  understood  and  fluently  used. 

In  20  the  Teacher  might  give  J' en  aiseulement  deux,in 
addition  to^  n'en  ai  que  deux  which  occurs  in  the  text. 

21.  The  < dative'  (objet  indirect)  is  taught  in  this 
lesson,  which  is  so  arranged  that  the  Pupils  are  not 
likely  to  find  it  troublesome.  The  contractions  au 
and  aux  will  remind  them  of  du  and  des  (No.  7) ;  etre 
a  in  the  sense  of  '  to  belong '  will  seem  rather  easy, 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  19-24          59 

but  some  repetition  will  be  necessary  to  impress  the 
fact  that  ressembler  is  followed  by  &.  With  a  qui 
compare  de  qui  and  de  quoi  in  No.  11. 

22.  The  demonstrative  adjectives  ce,  cet,  cette,  ces, 
and  the  interrogative  and  relative  lequel,  etc.,  are 
learnt  by  the  Pupils;  the  Exerdces  will   serve   to 
make  them  quite  familiar.     In  A  it  will  be  well  to 
let  them  form  sentences,  e.g.  Cette  herse  est  au  paysany 
cette  cloture  entoure  ce  jardin,  and  perhaps  also  to  point 
to  the  various  objects  mentioned. 

23.  In   each  lesson  up  to  this   point  the   gram- 
matical features  have  been  mg,de  clear  by  the  way  in 
which  they  are  printed  and  by  the  Teacher's  help. 
The  Pupils  have   come   to   realise   that    they    are 
essential  to  speech,  not  arbitrary  rules;   and  many 
Teachers  will  have  let  them  learn  the  grammatical 
terms  in  French.     It  will  interest  them  now  to  re- 
view what  they  have  learnt,  and  for  this  purpose  we 
have — 

1.  a  systematic  resume'  of  the  grammar ; 

2.  a  number  of  questions  to  test  the  vocabulary 
acquired  (over  150  words); 

3.  a  list  of  connected  words,  which  will  help  the 
Pupils  in   various  ways]  the  associations  in  their 
mind  are  strengthened,   which  aids  their  memory, 
and  they  gradually  acquire  some  knowledge  of  the 
common  derivative  prefixes  and  suffixes,  etc. 

24.  In  dealing  with  the  first  picture  it  was  necessary 
to  proceed  rather  slowly,  because  the  rudiments  of 


60  Running  Commentary 

Grammar  had  to  be  taught.  We  need  not  devote  so 
much  time  to  the  remaining  pictures.  The  Teacher 
may  still  occasionally  talk  the  new  lesson  through 
before  the  Pupils  open  their  books  and  read ;  but  as 
a  rule  they  can  proceed  to  read  at  once.  They  take 
the  sentences  in  turn;  only  the  words  printed  in 
clarendon  are  new,  and  these  will  rarely  present  any 
difficulty  of  pronunciation.  If  the  Pupils  know  the 
phonetic  alphabet,  they  can  be  referred  to  the  vocabu- 
laire,  if  in  doubt;  here  they  will  find  all  the  new 
words  transcribed.  Sometimes  of  course  they  will 
make  slips,  which  the  Teacher  will  correct;  occa- 
sionally he  will  ask  the  other  Pupils  to  listen  care- 
fully and  to  tell  him  (when  the  whole  sentence 
has  been  read)  what  mistakes,  if  any,  have  been 
made. 

The  meaning  of  the  new  words  in  each  sentence 
will  usually  be  clear  from  the  context.  Thus  there 
can  be  little  doubt  about  the  first  words  of  No.  24  : 
ZW,  second,  k  IU.  But  to  make  sure,  the  Teacher 
will  ask  such  questions  as  :  Qu'est-ce  que  V6tt  ?  U6U 
est-il  la  premiere  saison  ?  Quelle  est  la  premiere  saison  ? 
De  quoi  la  saison  est-elle  une  partie  ?  Combien  de  saisons 
I'annde  a-t-elle  ?  Qu'est-ce  que  le  "bli  ?  De  quelle  couleur  est 
le  bid  ?  In  order  to  suggest  the  meaning  of  le  devant, 
the  Teacher  first  asks  :  Ou  est  Ctcile  ?  to  remind  them 
of  the  preposition  devant ;  then  he  may  continue : 
Le  devant  est  un  substantif ;  c'est  une  partie  du  tableau; 
c'est  la  partie  du  tableau  qui  est  devant  les  autres  parties. 
The  meaning  will  now  be  clear,  and  several  will  at 
once  suggest  '  foreground '  as  the  English  equivalent. 


New  First  Book:  No.  24  61 

For  CL  droite  a  gesture  will  suffice ;  le  lout  can  be  made 
clear  by  pointing  to  the  tip  of  the  finger,  the  end  of 
the  bench,  or  of  a  ruler,  etc. 

It  will  sometimes  happen  that  the  Teacher  cannot 
give  a  satisfactory  explanation  in  French  of  a  new 
word ;  e.g.  devenir  in  this  lesson.  He  will  then  have 
recourse  to  the  English  word.  But  if  he  can  suggest 
the  meaning  by  the  use  of  French  only,  he  should 
do  so ;  it  may  take  a  little  time,  but  that  time  is  not 
wasted. 

To  one  who  has  not  previously  taught  on  Reform 
Method  lines,  it  may  seem  that  this  treatment  of  the 
text  is  slow;  but  he  will  soon  realise  how  much 
confidence  it  gives  the  Pupils,  how  thoroughly  they 
possess  what  they  have  learnt  in  this  way.  It 
also  enables  them  to  do  their  homework  well, 
which  is  a  great  advantage  from  every  point  of 
view. 

The  grammar  taught  in  each  lesson  will  require  no 
less  attention  than  before;  it  must  be  learnt  thor- 
oughly. The  questions  in  Exercice  A  also  deserve 
attention ;  the  Pupils  must  learn  to  be  careful  about 
the  interrogative  words  and  phrases  (qu'est-ce  qui,  qui 
est-ce  qui,  qu'est-ce  que,  qui  est-ce  que,  ou,  de  qui,  b,  qui, 
de  quoi,  It  quoi,  djou,  comment,  quand,  combien,  pourquoi, 
etc.) ;  there  must  be  no  uncertainty  about  their 
meaning,  and  only  untiring  repetition  will  ensure 
this.  The  Teacher  should  not  grudge  the  time  de- 
voted to  such  questions ;  similar  ones  are  to  be  found 
constantly  in  e very-day  conversation. 

Notice  au  printemps  (  =  au  premier  temps),  but 
en  6U. 


62  Running  Commentary 

25.  Jdrdme  va  au  champ  :  some  Pupils  will  probably 
remember  Le  paysan  va  au  champ  (No.  18.)  These 
and  similar  cases  of  a  as  a  preposition  of  place  are 
noted  by  the  Pupils ;  a  good  many  occur  in  this  book 
(see  Focabulaire,  p.  127.) 

Us  vont  faucher  le  bU :  this  expression  may  be  ex- 
plained by  a  reference  to  the  English  *  I  am  going 
to  do  it,'  and  by  a  simple  discussion  of  the  under- 
lying idea. 

Us  commenccnt  h  faucher  :  the  use  of  b  with  the 
infinitive  is  to  be  noted;  several  more  sentences 
should  be  formed  to  drive  it  home. 

Lier  en  gerbes,  mettre  en  fas  (but  les  moissonneurs  font 
des  gerbes,  des  tas) :  we  have  here  expressions  in  which 
we  speak  of  gerbes  and  tas  indefinitely,  yet  do  not  use 
the  partitive  article. 

Je  jette,  tu  jettes,  il  jette,  Us  jettent,  but  nous  jetonSj 
vous  jetez,  and  jeter :  the  Pupils  will  probably  see 
that  the  change  in  stem  is  associated  with  a  change 
of  accent.  They  may  be  told  that  the  doubling  of 
t  is  a  means  of  showing  the  nature  of  the  preced- 
ing e  (cp.  la  molette). 

Us  rentrent  les  gerbes  a  la  ferme :  connect  [with 
previous  examples  of  a 1]. 

The  forms  commen^ons  and  mangeons  will  not  give 
any  particular  difficulty ;  cp.  garc^on  and  rougedtre. 

The  term  parfait  is  more  convenient  than  passd 
indefini,  since  the  tense  corresponds  on  the  whole 
to  the  English  and  German  perfect.  Je  suis  tombe" 

1  The  word  '  connect '  alone  is  used  after  this  to  suggest 
that  the  pupils  should  be  led  to  recall  similar  forms,  etc., 
already  met  with. 


New  First  Book :  Nos.  25,  26  63 

will  require  attention,  as  the  use  of  ttre  here  seems 
unnatural  to  the  English  child ;  those  who  do  German 
may  be  reminded  of  ich  bin  gefallen. 

26.  II  a  un  fouet  &  la  main. 

II  tient  une  cruche  a  la  main. 
Le  cidre  est  dans  la  cruche. 

From  these  examples  the  Pupils  learn  a  distinction 
which  is  not  familiar  to  them  in  English.  Gesture 
will  be  helpful.  The  Teacher  takes  a  book  (a  la 
main),  a  coin  (dans  la  main),  holds  a  pointer  (a  la 
main\  a  piece  of  chalk  (dans  la  main). 

Les  chevaux  tirent  le  chariot  au  village;  il  va  d'un 
moissonneur  a  Tautre ;  a  V ombre ;  au  temps  de  la 
moisson  ;  a  chaque  pierre :  connect. 

It  will  surprise  some  Teachers  that  forms  of 
irregular  verbs  are  introduced  at  this  comparatively 
early  stage.  They  are,  however,  very  common  in- 
deed, and  it  would  be  a  serious  limitation  to  avoid 
them.  Of  course  the  Pupils  do  not  learn  the  whole 
verb;  that  is  left  until  much  later,  and  so  their 
minds  are  not  burdened  with  knowledge  which  they 
cannot  immediately  apply.  To  learn  these  verbs 
gradually  is  the  only  rational  proceeding,  and  may 
be  compared  to  the  process  by  which  a  French  child 
learns  them.  It  learns^  viens,  je prends,  etc.,  a  long 
time  before  it  ever  uses  vinsse  and  prisse,  or  even 
viendrai  and  prendrai. 

Jepese,  nous  pesons :  cp.  the  forms  of  jeter  (No.  25). 
Here  the  nature  of  the  e  is  indicated  in  another  way 
(cp.  pere,  etc.,  Phonetic  Section,  p.  39). 

Mangeanty  chargeant,  commen^ant :  connect. 


64  Running  Commentary 

27.   Un  cJiapeau  a  (  =  qui  a  de)  larges  lords. 

Un  moulin  a  eau,  un  moulin  &  vent  =  un  moulin  que 
Veau  (le  vent)  fait  marcher. 

Celui-ci  (as  the  Pupils  readily  see)  stands  for  le 
moulin,  ceux-ci  for  les  moulins,  celle-ci  for  la  farine. 
They  now  only  require  to  be  told  that  the  feminine 
plural  is  regularly  formed,  and  they  have  the  com- 
plete scheme  as  on  p.  48.  A  simple  way  of  prac- 
tising these  words  and  those  in  -la  is  the  following : — 

The  Teacher  has  on  his  desk  pencils  and  pens  of 
two  colours,  say  red  and  yellow.  He  gives  the 
words  le  crayon  and  la  plume ;  then  he  takes  a  pencil 
in  each  hand,  and  holds  one  closer  to  the  Pupils 
than  the  other.  They  say  :  Celui-ci  estjaune,  celui-la 
est  rouge  or  Gelui-ci  est  rouge,  celui-la  estjaune.  Then 
he  substitutes  the  pens  and  they  say :  Celle-ci  est 
jaune,  etc. ;  and  taking  several  pens  or  pencils  in 
each  hand,  he  can  practise  his  Pupils  in  the  use  of 
the  plural  forms.  It  is  a  simple  and  effectual 
method,  and  does  not  exhaust  the  Teacher,  as  he 
need  not  speak  at  all. 

It  should  be  impressed  on  the  Pupils  that  celui  cannot  stand 
alone  :  it  must  be  followed  by  -a,  ~la,  qui  (or  some  other,  form 
of  the  relative)  or  de.  Thus  the  answer  to  lequel  might  be : 
celui-ci,  celui-la,  celui  qui  est  sur  la  table,  celui  que  fai  a  la 
main,  celui  de  monfrere. 

Je  seme,  semer  ;  j'appelle,  appeler :  connect. 

The  scheme  of  relative  pronouns  on  p.  47  serves 
to  show : — 

(1)  that  que  is  the  pronom  re latif  which  stands  for 
a  direct  object,  while  qui  represents  the  subject ; 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  27-32          65 

(2)  that  ce  qui  does  duty  for  a  substantive  with 
qui,  and  ce  que  for  a  substantive  with  que. 

Some  Pupils  have  great  difficulty  in  realising  this ; 
a  difficulty  due  no  doubt  to  insufficient  knowledge 
of  what  is  meant  by  subject  and  object.  It  is  well, 
therefore,  in  taking  Exercice  B  to  make  two  sen- 
tences in  each  case,  e.g. : — 

1.  Je  nomme  une  chose. 
Montrez  la  chose  que  je  nomme. 
Montrez    ce    que  je  nomme. 

2.  Le  IU  est  mur. 

Les  pay  sans  fauchent  le  IU. 

Le  U6  que  les  pay  sans  fauchent,  est  mur. 

The  family  tree  in  No.  11.  is  now  enlarged,  so 
that  it  will  assume  the  following  form  (incidentally 
nte  is  taught)  : — 

LA  FAMILLE  BONTEMPS. 
M.  Maurice  Bontemps=Mme  Madeleine  B.  (ne'e  Lefevre) 


M.  Auguste  B.  =  Mme  Rose  B.        M.  Eugene  B. 
I    (ne'e  Gautier) 

Henri  Cdcile  Charles  Marie  Louise  Julie  Paul 


Mile  £milie  B. 


M.  J6r6me  B.=Mme  Catherine  B. 
_      |       (ne'e  Marchand) 

Georges         Jean       Francois      Jacq-ies 


28-32.  These  lessons  present  little  difficulty  with 
regard  to  method  ;  the  amount  of  grammar  to  be 
learnt  is  not  large.  The  introduction  of  numerals 
up  to  100  will  enable  the  Teacher  to  set  simple 


66  Running  Commentary 

arithmetical  exercises,  which  are  an  excellent  aid  to 
fluency;  addition  and  multiplication  can  be  used 
with  advantage  at  this  stage. 

Au  pied  d'un  arbre  (28),  aller  a  la  campagne  (30) : 
connect. 

Elk  va  boire  de  I'eau  (28),  Us  vont  verser  leur  eau 
(32) :  connect. 

Autour  de  (28) :  cp.  entourer. 

Du  Iceuf:  cp.  'beef.7 

Plonger  (29) :  cp.  manger,  charger. 

Devinette  (29) :  a  little  while  before  coming  to  this,  the 
Teacher  should  speak  about  the  hand,  and  give  le  doigt. 

Le  promeneur  (30) :  the  Pupils  have  had  faucheur 
and  moissonneur,  and  can  probably  suggest  the  force 
of  the  suffix  -eur. 

La  (31) :  cp.  celm-la  (27). 

Une  partie  de  cette  eau  vient  des  hautes  montagnes 
(31) :  cp.  defleur  enfleur  (18),  and  add  such  sentences 
as :  Uou  vient-il  ?  U  vient  de  Paris,  de  la  wile,  du 
village  ;  les  ruisseaux  viennent  de  la  forM,  etc. 

La  chaleur  transforme  la  neige  en  eau  (31)  :  cp.  Her 
en  gerbes,  mettre  en  tas  (25). 

La  chaleur  fond  la  neige,  and  la  neige  se  fond  (31) : 
in  English  we  use  c  melts  '  both  transitively  and  in- 
transitively;  the  difference  between  this  and  the 
French  usage  should  be  made  quite  clear.  Compare 
also  j'ouvre  la  porte,  la  porte  s'ouvre. 

Qa  et  la :  cp.  celui-ci  and  celui-la  (25). 

On  aime  a  se  reposer :  the  Pupils  may  be  asked  to 
suggest  an  English  rendering  ('  we  like  to  rest ') ; 
they  will  notice  how  stiff  and  unnatural  a  word-for- 
word  rendering  would  be. 


New  First  Book :  Nos.  28-34          67 

33.  The  grammar  learnt  in  connection  with  the 
Summer  picture  is  now  treated  in  a  connected  form ; 
that    is,    accompanied    by   a   revision   of   No.    23. 
Notice  the  treatment  of  the  verb ;  compare  Berthon's 
Premiere  Grammaire  Franqaise  (see  p.  14). 

The  Rdpdtition  and  Formation  de  mots  serve  to  test 
and  to  strengthen  the  knowledge  of  the  vocabulary ; 
cp.  No.  23. 

When  this  revision  work  has  been  done,  it  will  be 
valuable  to  have  a  good  talk  about  the  summer 
picture.  The  words  denoting  objects  on  it  have 
been  so  often  repeated,  that  it  can  now  be  discussed 
fluently;  the  Pupils  realise  that  they  have  taken 
another  step  forward,  and  feel  inspired  to  fresh  efforts. 

Talks  of  this  kind  will  never  be  the  same  in  any  two  class- 
rooms ;  and  this  is  largely  due  to  the  Teacher's  personality. 
Indeed  nothing  so  readily  shows  the  Teacher  of  experience  as 
the  gift  of  conducting  such  a  talk,  of  leading  his  Pupils  along 
by  the  help  of  suitable  questions.  He  does  not  use  unfamiliar 
words  or  phrases  j  he  knows  exactly  the  limitations  of  his 
Pupils'  vocabulary.  He  does  not  jump  from  one  thing  to 
another,  but  takes  care  that  all  is  connected  in  thought.  He 
does  not  put  a  hard  question  to  a  weak  Pupil  and  then  grow 
sarcastic  about  his  '  stupidity. '  He  does  not  fidget  or  lose  his 
temper. 

34.  The  Pupils  are  introduced  to  a  fresh  picture ; 
one  of  its  main  features  is  the  vineyard.     It  may 
well  be  preceded  by  a  short  talk  about  wine;  if 
the  Pupils  have  some  general  ideas  on  the  subject, 
they  will  '  fall   to '   the   new  words  more   readily. 
They  should  look  for  Bordeaux  in  the  little  map 
on  p.  116. 


68  Running  Commentary 

They  now  learn  the  ordinal  numerals  and  the 
names  of  the  months ;  they  may  have  to  be  warned 
against  saying,  e.g.,  le  troisikme  Janvier.  To  make 
them  acquire  the  right  habit,  some  such  exercise  as 
that  on  p.  75  (B.)  may  be  given  at  once  :  the  numbers 
are  written  on  the  blackboard,  the  Pupils  say  or 
write  the  date  in  words. 

In  future  they  may  be  required  to  write  the  date  in  words 
at  the  top  of  their  exercises. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  Pupils  should  not  be 
told  that  the  future  is  really  a  compound  tense,  as 
in  English  and  German,  originally  : — 


i« 

couper 

ai 

tu 

couper 

as 

il 

couper 

a 

nous 

couper 

(av)ons 

vous 

couper 

(av)ez 

ils 

couper 

ont 

The  meaning  was  once :  '  I  have  to  cut ' ;  now  it 
is  '  I  am  going  to  cut/  The  omission  of  e  in  je 
rir-ai  will  be  noticed  by  the  pupils. 

It  might  also  be  noted  that  je  vais  couper,  tu  vas  couper, 
etc. ,  practically  amounts  to  a  future  tense ;  but  here  the 
auxiliary  has  not  become  one  with  the  infinitive. 

vendange,  vendangeur :  cp.  moisson  -onneur. 
vendangewr,  vendangeuse :  cp.  moissonneur  -euse. 

35.  Ilfaut:  I  must.  It  is  better  here  to  give  the 
English  word  than  to  explain  by  means  of  je  dois, 
which  is  not  a  true  synonym. 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  34-36          69 

Verbs  like  remplir,  orner,  meler  give  some  trouble ; 
this  force  of  de  is  unfamiliar  to  the  Pupils,  and  a 
good  deal  of  repetition  will  be  necessary  before  they 
use  it  instinctively.  They  should  note  that  we  say : — 

Le  paysan  remplit  le  tonneau  de  vin,  singular, 
but :  On  remplit  la  corbeille  de 
On  orne  le  chapeau  de  flews. 

They  will  readily  suggest  the  reason  for  this. 

They  may  well  be  asked  whether  the  sentence 
on  p.  65  (Le  parapluie  preserve  I'homme  de  la  pluie) 
is  of  the  same  kind  as  the  others ;  all  but  the 
least  intelligent  will  see  a  difference.  They  may 
then  draw  a  pencil  line  in  their  book  to  separate  it 
from  the  preceding  sentences. 

36.  This  lesson  lends  itself  to  dramatic  reproduc- 
tion. When  the  text  has  been  read  and  discussed,  one 
of  the  Pupils  may  take  the  part  of  Laurent,  another 
will  be  le  pere,  a  third  filise.  Laurent  may  speak  as 
in  the  text ;  or  filise  may  give  the  2nd  section  (Qucmd 
mon  pkre  .  .  .)  in  her  own  words,  and  le  pere  the  3rd 
section  in  his. 

The  substitution  of  pronouns  (duquel,  etc.,  dont) 
for  the  genitive l  of  a  substantive  is  difficult.  We 
begin  with  the  sentence 

On  remplit  la  cruche  de  cidre. 

Here  the  nature  of  the  cider  is  undetermined.     If 
we  specify  the  cider,  we  say,  e.g. : — 

On  remplit  la  cruche  du  cidre  qui  est  Ion. 
Or  if  we  make  the  cider  the  subject,  we  have 
Le  cidre,  duquel  on  remplit  la  cruche,  est  Ion. 
1  This  term  is  convenient  here. 


70  Running  Commentary 

This  represents  a  combination  of  two  statements : — 
Le  cidre  est  Ion. 
On  remplit  la  cruche  de  ce  cidre. 
Similarly,  L'eau  dont  on  m$le  le  vin  est  pure. 
_  (L'eau  est  pure. 
~\0n  mMe  le  vin  de  cette  eau. 

37.  Sur  la  ttte :  for  some  time  Pupils  will  say  sa 
tete,  etc.,  in  similar  cases ;  it  may  be  useful  to  have 
the  difference  pointed  out  at  once. 

Haul  la  tete!  (footnote):  this  will  seem  queer; 
explain  that  la  tete  is  added  by  way  of  an  explana- 
tion :  *  Keep  it  high — I  mean  your  head  ! ' 

Tomber  a  terre :  connect  (31). 

En  m$me  temps:  cp.  en  6t6  (24). 

Appuie :  attention  should  be  drawn  to  the  change 
in  the  stem.  When  the  ending  contains  the  *  mute 
e,'  the  stem  appears  in  a  fuller  form ;  cp.  je  seme, 
etc.,  but  nous  semons.  Cp.  Berthon,  Prem.  gram, 
franc.,  Chap.  II. 

Elle  va  les  vendre :  connect. 

Je  tiendrai,  je  viendrai :  these  forms  deserve  com- 
ment; explain  that  they  are  irregular.  The  proper 
forms  would  be  tendrai  and  vendrai,  but  these  are 
required  as  futures  to  tendre  and  vendre ;  hence  the 
change. 

38.  Par  un  beau  jour :  connect  (par  le  beau  temps, 
No.  30). 

Nous  voyons  a  ses  habits :  a  new  use  of  a. 
A  la  main  gauche :  connect. 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  36-41  71 

Sw  la  tete :  as  in  No.  37. 

II  est  alU:  cp.  je  suis  tomU  (25).  It  is  a  good 
exercise  to  let  the  Pupils  repeat  No.  36,  sections  2 
and  3,  with  all  the  verbs  in  the  perfect,  in  which 
case  they  will  also  have  elle  est  descendue  and  elle  est 
rentrte.  Pupils  who  do  German  may  be  reminded  of 
ich  bin  gekommen,  gefallen,  etc. 

Connattre :  for  the  present  cp.  je  grandis,  etc. 

Le  lievre :  the  Teacher  might  add  :  chez  nous  il  n'y 
a  pas  beaucoup  de  lievres,  mais  il  y  a  beaucoup  de  lapins. 

39.  Sur  le  dos  :  connect. 

Les  bottes :  distinguish  from  sabot  (27),  soulier 
(No.  30).  The  word  bottine  might  be  given  in  this 
connection. 

En  souriant,  en  aboyant :  cp.  No.  26. 

Aboyer :  cp.  what  was  said  about  appuyer  (37). 

Exercice  C  :  the  verbs  in  the  present  \  but  many 
of  them  may  also  be  given  in  the  future  and  the 
perfect. 

40.  Au  moyen  de :  cp.  No.  25. 
Batteur,  latteuse:  connect. 

Exercice  C.  The  adverbs  should  be  used  with  suit- 
able verbs  :  doucement  (marcher,  parler),  lieureusement 
(arriver,  sourire),  longuement  (parler),  agrdablement 
(parler),  joyeusement  (rire),  fidelement  (garder). 

41.  Regardez:  imperative  (cp.  many  class-room  com- 
mands with  which  the  Pupils  are  familiar). 


72  Running  Commentary 

II  va  les  cueillir :  connect. 
On  aime  a  manger :  connect  (32). 
En  hiver :  cp.  en  itt  (24),  en  automne,  but  auprintemps 
(  =  au  premier  temps). 

En  tombant,  en  se  tenant :  connect. 


42.  En  Pair:  cp.  lafume'e  monte  en  I' air  (15). 

II  fait  du  vent :  cp.  il  fait  frais  (38),  and  fourth 
footnote  on  p.  46. 

Une  brosse  a  dents:  here  une  brosse  a  Tiabits,  une 
brosse  a  souliers  may  be  introduced. 

Exercice  E.  The  Pupils  should  draw  a  face,  and 
add  the  French  words  for  the  different  parts  of  it. 


43.  Us  ont  lespattes  larges :  cp.  il  a  les  yeux  bleus  (42). 

Eessembler  a:  cp.  No.  21. 

Faire  la  chasse  a :  cp.  No.  30. 

Utile  par  son  lait :  observe  this  use  of  par. 

Faire  tomber :  cp.  faire  marcher  (16). 


44.  flfaitnuit,  ilfaitchaud:  connect. 

Pays:  cp. paysan. 

Angleterre,  etc. :  a  wall  map  of  Europe  should  be 
used  for  teaching  the  names  of  these  countries ;  or 
p.  115  may  be  utilized. 

En  leur  apportant  des  insectes :  leur  =  a  eux  (which 
would  be  the  emphatic  form,  cp.  J'apporte  le  livre  a 
vous,  et  non  pas  a  eux).  Other  examples  should  be 
given,  e.g.  with  donners  ressembler. 


New  First  Book :  Nos.  41-47          73 

45.  Bateau  a  vapeur :  cp.  moulin  a  eau,  etc. 
Tranquille :  same  form  for  masculine. 
Ilfaut  avoir :  cp.  No.  35. 

Sur  le  bateau  meme:  contrast   with   sur  le  m$me 
bateau. 

Cdlebres  par  leur  beauU :  connect  (43). 
Voyageur-euse :  connect. 
Entoure'e  d'eau :  observe  this  use  of  de ;  cp.  35. 

46.  To  be  treated  in  the  same  way  as  Nos.  23  and 
33,  and  to  be  followed  by  a  general  talk  about  the 
Autumn  picture. 

47.  and  foil.     The   Exercices  still   contain  ques- 
tions on  the  text,  but  many  will  regard  them  as 
no  longer  necessary,  for  by  this  time  the  Pupils 
are  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  different  ways  in 
which  questions  are  formed,  and  their  vocabulary  is 
so  large  that  the  text  of  the  lessons  can  be  discussed 
fully  and  freely.     Almost  every  new  word  can  be- 
come the  peg  for  a  series  of  questions  and  answers, 
in  which  known  words  are  used  and  become  still 
better  known  by  use.     Take  for  instance  No.  47  ;  the 
following  conversation  might  be  connected  with  the 
new  words : — 

T.  Qui  me  dit  un  mot  qui  est  nouveau  dans  notre 
numero  1 

P.  Le  corbeau. 

T.  Qu'est-ce  que  le  corbeau  ? 

P.  Le  corbeau  est  un  oiseau. 

T.  Le  corbeau  est-il  un  oiseau  de  passage  ? 

P.  Non,  monsieur,  ce  n'est  pas  un  oiseau  de  passage 


74  Running  Commentary 

T.  Qu'est-ce  qui  vous  dit  que  ce  n'est  pas  un  oiseau 
de  passage  ? 

P.  En  automne,  il  ne  va  pas  dans  un  pays  plus 
chaud. 

T.  De  quelle  couleur  est  le  corbeau  1 

P.  II  est  noir. 

T.  Oh  voit-on  des  corbeaux  ? 

P.  On  en  voit  dans  les  forets,  dans  les  villages, 
dans  les  villes. 

T.  Dans  quelle  saison  les  voit-on  dans  les  villes 
et  dans  les  villages  ? 

P.  On  les  y  voit  en  hiver. 

T.  Qu'est-ce  qui  le  pousse  a  venir  dans  notre  ville 
en  hiver  ? 

P.  C'est  la  faim  qui  le  pousse  a  venir  dans  notre 
ville. 

T.  Le  corbeau  n'a-t-il  pas  faim  dans  les  autres 
saisons  1 

P.  II  a  tou jours  bon  appetit,  mais  dans  les  autres 
saisons  il  trouve  assez  a  manger  dans  les  forets. 

T.  Pourquoi  ne  trouve-t-il  rien  a  manger  en  hiver  ? 

P.  En  hiver,  la  terre  est  couverte  de  neige. 

T.  Qu'est-ce  que  le  corbeau  trouve  dans  les  villes 
en  hiver  ? 

P.  II  y  trouve  des  miettes. 

T.  Ce  sont  des  petits  morceaux  de —  ? 

P.  Ce  sont  des  petits  morceaux  de  pain. 

T.  Ou  trouve-t-il  les  miettes  1 

P.  II  les  trouve  devant  les  maisons. 

T.  Qui  les  y  jette  1 

P.  Ce  sont  les  hommes  qui  les  y  jet  tent. 

T.  Un  autre  mot ! 


New  First  Book:  No.  47  75 

P.  La  pitie. 

T.  Qui  a  pitied 

P.  Les  hommes  ont  pitie". 

T.  De  qui  les  hommes  ont-ils  pitie*  1 

P.  Us  ont  pi  tie  des  oiseaux  en  hiver. 

T.  Pourquoi  en  ont-ils  piti£  1 

P.  Us  en  ont  pitie  parce  qu'ils  n'ont  pas  toujours 
a  manger. 

T.  De  qui  les  hommes  ont-ils  encore  pitie  1 

P.  Us  ont  pitie  des  pauvres. 

T.  Quels  oiseaux  sont  pauvres  1 

P.  Les  oiseaux  qui  ne  trouvent  rien  a  manger. 

T.  Un  autre  mot ! 

P.  Le  flocon. 

T.  Qu'est-ce  que  le  flocon  1 

P.  Le  flocon  est  de  la  neige. 

T.  D'ou  tombent  les  flocons  ? 

P.  Us  tombent  du  ciel. 

T.  Quand  les  flocons  tombent-ils  du  ciel  ? 

P.  Us  tombent  du  ciel  quand  il  neige. 

This  is  valuable  for  the  Pupils,  and  not  par- 
ticularly tiring  for  the  Teacher,  as  there  is  no  need 
to  observe  a  strict  logical  sequence.  All  he  needs 
is  readiness  to  put  perfectly  simple  questions, 
which  will  help  to  drive  home  the  meaning  of  the 
new  words. 


47.  Quatrikme:    the   ordinal   numerals   might   be 
revised. 

Ni :  several  examples  should  be  given. 
II  a  faim :  connect. 


76  Running  Commentary 

Us  leur  jettent  des  miettes :  lear  (44). 

(Assez  tdt)  sefait :  cp.  se  gdter  (41).  The  Pupils  will 
observe  that  in  English  the  passive  would  be  used. 

Exercice  C.  The  imperative  presents  no  difficulty ; 
the  only  matter  requiring  attention  is  the  absence 
of  -s  in  the  2nd  sing,  imperative  of  verbs  in  -er. 
The  Pupils  have  heard  many  imperatives  by  this 
time  (ouvrez,  re'pe'tez,  montre,  etc.). 

Exercice  D.  The  Pupils  may  be  asked  to  repeat 
the  whole  or  part  of  this  with  books  closed. 

48.  Un  bdton  a  la  main :  connect. 

Se  servir  de :   the  construction  of  this  verb  gives 
trouble ;  further  examples  will  be  required. 
H  faut  Ure  habiltt :  connect. 

49.  Les  deux  chevaux  tirent  une  diligence :  sometimes 
it  is  good  practice,  to  take  all  the  cases  in  which  a 
word   can   be   used,    with   the    vocabulary  already 
acquired.      Here    for    instance    we   may   put   the 
question :  Qu'est-ce  que  les  chevaux  tirent  ?    To  which 
may  be  given  the  answers  la  herse,  le  chariot,   la 
voiture,  la  charrue,  le  traineau.     The  Teacher  decides 
whether  the  Pupils  answer  in  complete  sentences  or 
not. 

Qu'est-ce  qu'wi  tient  a  la  main  ?  On  tient  le  f ouet, 
le  parapluie,  I'ombrelle,  I'e'chelle ;  on  se  tient  a  une 
branche,  a  une  e'chelle,  a  une  chose. 

Uauberge  est  une  maison  ou  Von  vend  du  vin,  etc.  5 
le  moulin  est  une  maison  ou  Ton  fait  la  farine ;  la 
f erme  est  une  maison  ou  demeurent  des  paysans ;  la 
grange  est  une  maison  ou  le  paysan  rentre  le  ble,  etc. 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  47-51  77 

Avoir  besoin:  L'homme  a  besoin  de  manger,  de  boire, 
de  dormir,  de  se  reposer,  de  se  promener ;  il  a  besoin 
d'habits,  de  quoi  a-t-il  encore  besoin  ?  Quelles  sont 
les  choses  dont  I'homme  a  besoin  ? 

Qu'est-ce  que  Vhomme  qui  vend  du  vin,  du  cidre,  de  la 
biere,  etc.  ?  Qu'est-ce  que  Phomme  qui  fait  la  farine  ? 
le  pain?  qui  coupe  les  raisins  murs?  qui  va  a  la 
ehasse?  qui  va  se  promener?  qui  demeure  a  la 
ville  ?  qui  fait  un  voyage  ?  qui  conduit  un  chariot  ? 
qui  garde  le  troupeau  ?  qui  fauche  le  bid  ? 

Forgeant :  cp.  mangeant,  chargeant. 

50.  Chez :  cp.  chez  le  boulanger  (35). 
disant :  this  form  is  new. 

Fera  remettre :  connect. 

Centime,  franc :  see  the  plate  opposite  page  120. 

Timbres-poste :  formation  of  plural. 

Adresse :  contrast '  address/ 

The  text  of  this  lesson  calls  for  a  good  deal  of 
discussion  and  repetition,  as  idiomatic  turns  are 
rather  numerous. 

51.  Instruire :  cp.  conduire  (26). 
Noel:  cp.  *  No  well/ 
Brillant:  cp.  '  brilliant/ 

Font  entendre :  connect. 

Embellir :  cp.  bel,  belle. 

ParaUre :  cp.  connaitre  (38). 

Before  dealing  with  the  French  *  voices/  it  is  best 
to  have  a  talk  about  the  meaning  of  active  and  passive 
in  English ;  as  a  rule  the  Pupils'  notions  are  very 
hazy  on  this  point. 


78  Running  Commentary 

Exercice  E :  all  these  sentences  might  be  given  in 
the  present  and  the  perfect. 

52.  The  most  important  part  of  the  Grammatical 
re'sume'  is  the  order  of  the  pronouns ;  and  for  once  a 
somewhat  mechanical  method  may  be  the  most  effec- 
tive.     The   formation  of   sentences  is  too  slow  a 
process  ;  and  the  habit  of  using  the  pronouns  in  the 
proper  order  is  best  acquired  by  saying  them  often. 
The  class  should  be  asked  to  repeat 

me  le,         me  la,         me  les ; 
te  le,  te  la,          te  les ;  etc. 

for  a  few  times  in  several  consecutive  lessons. 
Eventually  the  Pupils  will  use  them  correctly  by 
instinct,  and  not  by  calculation. 

53-59.  After  dealing  with  the  broad  aspects  of 
life  as  they  present  themselves  to  a  boy  or  girl,  we 
may  turn  to  what  will  particularly  interest  our  Pupils, 
the  daily  life  of  a  school-boy.  These  lessons  intro- 
duce many  useful  words,  and  enable  them  to  speak 
about  their  own  school  life.  The  amount  of  grammar 
to  be  acquired  is  not  large  ;  but  there  are  plentiful 
opportunities  of  revising  what  has  already  been 
learnt. 

53.  dont :  cp.  36. 

a  six  heures,  etc. :  the  Teacher  may  teach  what  is 
given  on  pp.  118  and  119  of  the  appendix;  p.  120  is 
for  practice. 

je  me  lave  les  mains :  case  of  me  here,  and  in  je 
me  lave ;  les  not  mes,  connect. 


New  First  Book:  Nos.  51-55          79 

la  salle  a  manger  :  cp.  salle  d'attente  (50). 

s'asseoir :  the  class  order  asseyez-vous  I  is  probably 
familiar  to  the  Pupils  by  this  time. 

morceau :  cp.  '  morsel ' ;  the  Pupils  notice  the 
difference  in  meaning. 

ma  so3ur  et  moi :  not  je9  but  the  pronom  personnel 
fort  (see  58). 

en  retard :  cp.  retarder  (p.  148). 

je  leur  serre  la  main :  cp.  je  me  lave  les  mains  (above). 

Exercice  B  and  similar  exercises  may  also  be  done 
in  the  interrogative  or  negative  form,  at  the  teacher's 
discretion. 

54.  me  dit  adieu  :  case  of  me;  origin  of  adieu, 
elle  est  arrMe  :  connect. 

la  notre :  not  noire. 

une  maison  h  deux  Stages :  observe  this  use  of  a. 
un  escalier  de  pierre :  observe  this  use  of  de. 
salle  de  classe :  cp.  salle  d'attente  (50). 
nous  prenons  h  droite  :  a  new  use  of  prendre. 
va  s'asseoir :  connect. 
un,  une  6Uve  :  cp.  un,  une  enfant  (8). 
chacun  pour  soi:    soi  reflexive,    referring   to    an 
indefinite  antecedent. 
le  mieux  :  superlative  of  adverb. 

55.  ceux-ci :  singular  1  feminine  ? 
rarement :  revise  formation  of  adverbs. 
fait  calculer :  connect. 

la  matinee :  distinguish  from  le  matin  (53) ;  cp.  an 
(11),  mne'e  (18).  Soir,  soiree,  and  jour,  journe'e  might 
also  be  given. 


8o  Running  Commentary 

jeunesse  :  vieillesse  may  be  given. 

lire :  the  class  order  lisez  has  often  been  given. 

lecture :  contrast  the  meaning  of  '  lecture/ 

56.  il  fait  beau  temps :  connect. 
lejeu:  cp.jouer. 

la  cloche  se  fait  entendre  :  connect. 

remonter  :  cp.  other  verbs  with  re-. 

il  se  donne  beaucoup  de  peine  :  case  of  se. 

se  faire  comprendre :  connect. 

adresser:  cp.  adresse  (50). 

re'pondre  :  cp.  response  (13) ;  observe  rtpondre  a  une 
question. 

comme  une  conversation :  observe  the  use  of  comme  ; 
the  Teacher  asks  for  an  idiomatic  rendering. 

Exerdce  C:  cp.  36. 

57.  au  las  de :  cp.  36. 

en  marge :  absence  of  article ;  connect. 

Pestalozzi:  the  Pupils  should  be  told  something 
about  the  man  to  whom  they  owe  so  much.  This 
the  Teacher  might  do  in  simple  French.  Even  if 
the  Pupils  hear  some  strange  words,  it  will  do  them 
no  harm ;  it  will  indeed  urge  them  to  fresh  efforts. 

While  the  Teacher  will  usually  confine  his  conversations  to 
words  already  met  with,  he  need  not  allow  this  rule  to  bind 
him  down  in  all  cases.  When  he  thinks  the  moment  has 
arrived  for  introducing  some  word  or  phrase  which  is  not  in 
the  lesson,  he  should  not  hesitate  to  give  it.  He  may  cause 
the  Pupils  to  insert  it  neatly  in  the  margins.  They  are  of 
course  never  allowed  to  write  any  English  words  in  their 
books. 


New  First  Book :  Nos.  55-64          81 

58.  serrer  les  livres  :  a  fresh  meaning  of  serrer. 
au  meme  moment :  but  en  mime  temps  (37). 

miller :  strange  spelling,  considering  the  pronuncia- 
tion ;  cp.  cher,  a  word  which  might  here  be  given  to 
the  Pupils. 

du  veau :  '  veal ' ;  cp.  du  bceuf  (28). 

au  moyen  de  :  connect. 

les  classes  du  lycee :  the  footnote  can  be  read  or 
omitted  at  the  discretion  of  the  Teacher.  For  fuller 
details  see  Kron's  French  Daily  Life,  Chapter  16,  and 
DuhamePs  Tony  et  sa  Swur,  pp.  104,  154. 

dans  trois  semaines :  in  three  weeks  from  now ; 
contrast  en  un  jour  (45,  Proverbe). 

59.  se  casse  :  cp.  fondre  and  se  fondre  (31). 
apres-midi :  formation  of  plural. 

soir,  soirde :  cp.  matin,  matine'e ;  an,  annde. 
Exercice  F.     This  use  of  avant  de  will  present  no 
difficulty. 

60-63.  The  Appendix  contains  much  that  is  useful. 
Reference  may  have  been  made  to  some  parts  in 
preceding  lessons,  as  has  been  suggested ;  but  it  will 
be  well  to  take  these  lessons,  even  if  they  appear 
somewhat  dry. 

60.  61.  Outline  maps  of  Europe  and  of   France 
would  be  a  great  help  in  teaching  the  geographical 
terms  and  names. 

62.  A  card-board  clock  with  movable  hands,  large 
enough  to  be  seen  by  the  whole  class,  will  save  the 
Teacher  a  good  deal  of  speaking. 


82  Running  Commentary 

63.  The  actual  weights,  measures  and  coins  should 
be  shown  to  the  Pupils,  as  far  as  possible. 

64.  The   Grammar  section,   etc.,   refers   only  to 
lessons  53-63, 

The  Podsies  (p.  173  and  foil.)  can  be  taught  when- 
ever the  Teacher  thinks  it  convenient  and  profitable. 
The  meaning  should  always  be  made  quite  clear ; 
but  there  is  no  need  for  an  explanation  of  every 
unusual  form  or  construction. 

Other  collections  of  simple  verse  are  : — 

Recitations  et  Poesies.  Compiled  by  Miss  Violet 
Partiugton.  Horace  Marshall.  1903.  (With 
phonetic  transcript.) 

Poemespour  Venfance.  Par  M.  et  Mme  Braunschvig. 
Didier,  Paris.  1910.  2  f.  80. 

Recueil  de  Poemes.  Par  F.  Nechelput  et  Ed.  Heuten. 
Teubner,  Leipzig.  1901.  1  m.  40. 

The  following  contain  songs  and  music : — 

H.  Gautier,  Manuel  Musical  des  Scales.  Premiere 
partie  (72  choeurs  a  2  voix  ^gales).  Deuxieme  partie 
(46  choeurs  a  3  voix  6gales).  Chaque  partie  1  fr. 
50  c.  net. ;  les  deux  parties  reunies  et  cartonnees  : 
3  fr.  50  c.  net. 

The  popularity  of  this  book  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  it  is  already  in  its  50th  edition.  It  is  published 
by  A.  Pinatel,  18,  rue  du  Faubourg-Poissonniere, 
Paris. 

Chansons  et  Rondes  Enfantines.  Published  by 
Vermot,  20,  rue  du  Dragon,  Paris. 


New  First  Book :  Poesies  83 

[Dr  Baker  has  kindly  given  me  the  following  list  of  songs 
which  he  has  tried  in  his  classes  : 

Manuel  (Premiere  Partie}.  p.  2.  Chante,  petit  oiseau  !  p.  2. 
Le  bonhenr  est  la  !  p.  9.  L' enfant  de  la  raontagne.  p.  14. 
L'oiseau  et  Fhomme.  p.  23.  Les  fleurs  que  j'aime.  p.  44. 
En  avant !  p.  48.  Le  brave  tisserand.  p.  76.  La  semaine 
de  I'e'colier. 

Chansons  et  Rondes.  p.  16.  II  e"tait  une  bergere.  p.  21. 
Compere  Guilleri  (requires  slight  alterations),  p.  32.  Marianne 
s'en  allant  au  moulin.  p.  40.  En  revenant  de  la  foire  (requires 
slight  alterations),  p.  64.  Biquette  et  le  loup.  p.  82.  Le 
roi  de  Sardaigne.  p.  106.  L'avoine.] 

French  Songs  and  Verses.  Compiled  by  A.  D.  Middleton, 
B.A.  Swan,  Sonnenschein  &  Co.  1902.  Is.. 

French  Nursery  Rhymes.  Compiled  by  A.  Thirion.  J. 
Williams,  32  Great  Portland  Street,  W.  Two  series,  6d. 
each. 

Chansons  Franfaises.  Par  R.  Dax.  H.  Welter,  Paris. 
1  fr.  50. 

45  Franzosische  Lieder.  Von  K.  Wetzel.  Fussinger, 
Berlin,  1898. 

The  Teacher  may  also  like  his  Pupils  to  act  some 
simple  scenes.  Miss  Partington's  Fables  en  Action 
(Is.)  are  admirable  for  young  children.  For  older 
Pupils  there  are  Mr  J.  S.  Walters'  Episodes  en  Action 
(Is.  4d.),  Miss  Ping's  Tableaux  Mouvants  and  Jeux 
Franqais  (Is.  4d.  each),  Miss  Saunois'  L?  Entente 
Cordiale  a  la  Campagne  (Is.  6d.),  and  Three  Short  Plays 
by  Souvestre  (Is.  6d.).  All  these  are  issued  in  Dent's 
Modern  Language  Series,  which  also  contains  a  series 
of  The  Best  French  Plays,  plain  texts,  at  3d.  each. 


84  Running  Commentary 


SECOND  BOOK. 

BEFORE  proceeding  to  read  a  story,  it  is  necessary 
for  the  pupil  to  become  acquainted  with  the  tenses 
of  the  verb  which  have  been  purposely  excluded 
from  the  First  Book.  Instead  of  relying  on  the  text 
of  a  story  for  examples,  we  have  preferred  to  give  a 
number  of  short  lessons  on  the  tenses.  If  these  are 
thoroughly  mastered,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  tenses 
of  the  verb  will  give  serious  difficulty.  The '  irregular ' 
verbs  are  introduced  gradually,  and  numerous  exer- 
cises on  them  have  been  given. 

When  the  beginner  has  acquired  correct  habits 
of  pronunciation  and  attained  a  certain  degree  of 
ease  in  the  application  of  elementary  grammar,  it 
is  important  to  increase  his  vocabulary.  This  is, 
perhaps,  the  chief  task  in  the  second  year  of 
instruction. 

Now  there  are  many  ways  of  learning  words,: 
the  meaning  can  be  looked  up  in  a  dictionary; 
lists  of  French  words  with  their  English  equivalents 
can  be  committed  to  memory;  translation  and  re- 
translation  may  be  employed  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  teacher  who  has  made  proper  use  of  the  First 
Book  will,  however,  not  be  inclined  to  adopt  these 
expedients.  He  will  continue  to  make  an  extensive 
use  of  the  foreign  language,  and  to  avoid  translation. 


Second  Book  85 

When  a  word  in  clarendon  type  occurs,  the  pupil 
knows  that  it  is  new.  Sometimes  he  sees  the  mean- 
ing at  once ;  he  cannot  be  in  doubt  about  enchant^ 
nature,  change".  If  the  meaning  is  not  clear,  he  looks 
at  the  foot  of  the  page,  where  the  word  is  explained 
in  words  familiar  to  him. 

These  explanations  are  not  meant  to  be  exhaustive  defini- 
tions ;  they  are  hints,  finger-posts  guiding  the  pupil's  thoughts 
in  the  right  direction.  Sometimes  they  are  insufficient ;  this 
is  particularly  the  case  when  the  names  of  plants,  animals, 
etc.,  occur  in  the  text.  Thus  ours  is  explained  gros  animal ; 
the  pupil  may  guess  that  it  is  a  bear,  but  we  cannot  blame 
him  for  not  doing  so.  This  class  of  words  has  always  been  a 
little  troublesome  to  the  reform  teacher.  I  may  be  allowed  to 
refer  here  to  the  French  Picture  Vocabulary,  issued  in  Dent's 
Modern  Language  Series,  which  will  be  found  serviceable  to 
pupils  even  in  their  second  year. 

The  explanation  at  the  foot  of  the  page  will 
generally  suffice,  but  the  teacher  will  do  well  (at 
least  in  the  case  of  words  quite  unlike  their  English 
equivalents)  to  ask  questions  containing  the  new 
word,  or  to  let  the  pupils  make  sentences  with  it, 
until  he  is  confident  that  the  meaning  is  grasped 
by  all. 

A  new  word  is  retained  all  the  better  if  it  forms 
one  of  a  group  of  kindred  words.  It  may  be  suggested 
that  the  pupils  should  have  a  Vocabulary  Notebook  for 
the  purpose  of  recording  the  new  words.  These 
should  not  be  entered  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence 
in  the  text,  nor  in  alphabetical  order,  but  according 
to  their  meaning.  There  are  many  possible  ways  of 
classifying  words  which  will  occur  to  the  teacher, 
and  it  does  not  matter  much  which  he  adopts.  The 


86  Running  Commentary 

essential  thing  is  to  get  the  pupils  to  look  at  the 
vocabulary  from  this  point  of  view ;  they  will  then 
soon  take  an  interest  in  collecting  words. 

Thus,  in  the  first  lesson,  auparavant  and  longtemps  will 
suggest  the  heading  '  Le  Temps ' ;  and  the  pupils  may  at  once 
add  such  other  words  (jour,  semaine,  etc.)  as  have  occurred  in 
the  First  Book.  Reverdir  may  be  the  starting-point  of  a  page 
for  words  indicating  '  Les  Couleurs ' ;  vert,  verddtre,  reverdir 
will  appear  together. 

When  words  are  entered,  the  grammar  may  be 
considered  as  well  as  the  vocabulary;  substantives 
are  entered  with  an  article  to  show  gender  and  an 
indication  of  the  plural  form,  if  necessary ;  the  pupil 
writes  not  merely  blanc,  but  blanc  blanche. 

In  the  notes  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  there  are 
occasionally  new  words  not  found  in  the  text ;  they 
are  printed  in  italics,  here  and  in  the  list  of  words 
on  pp.  199  and  foil.  Lists  of  connected  words  are 
given  on  pp.  42,  79,  121,  195. 

In  Lessons  1  to  14  the  number  of  new  words  is 
small.  This  enables  the  pupils  to  give  their  whole 
attention  to  the  consideration  of  the  verb,  and  to 
repeat  a  number  of  words  with  which  the  previous 
year's  work  has  made  them  familiar. 

1.  Many  examples  of  the  imperfect  occur.  The 
pupils  ascertain  the  endings ;  from  p.  4  it  becomes 
clear  to  them  that  the  same  radical  is  found  in  the 
present  participle  and  the  imperfect.  This  radical 
cannot  be  discovered  by  reasoning,  it  is  a  matter 
of  memory;  and  so  the  pupils  must  be  prepared 
to  learn  the  page  off.  The  formation  of  the  plu- 


Second  Book:  Nos.  1-3  87 

perfect  gives  as  little  trouble  as  in  English.  (Care 
must  be  taken  to  ensure  that  the  pupils  know  which 
tense  in  English  is  meant.) 

2.  The  pass6  historique1  is  a  much  more  difficult 
tense,  in  form  and  in  meaning,  than  the  imperfect. 
The  teacher  will  therefore  take  ample  time  over  this 
lesson,  which  deals  with  the  form  only;  nothing  is 
said  about  the  meaning  as  yet. 

3.  This  anecdote  is  an  old-established  favourite 
for  teaching  the  distinction  between  the  imperfect 
and  the  passe"  historique.     Probably  the  best  course 
for  the  teacher  to  adopt  is  to  let  the  pupils  close  their 
books  and  then  to  tell  them  the  story  in  perfectly 
simple  French,  but  at  the  same  time  with  a  good 
deal  of  dramatic  movement.     The  schoolroom  is  a 
room  in  George's  house ;  some  garden  visible  from 
this  room,  or  at  any  rate  well  known  to  the  children, 
is  the  orchard.     Teacher  and  pupils  follow  George 
as  he  leaves  the  room,  goes  along  the  passage  and 
downstairs,   opens   the   door,  goes  out,  crosses  the 
street,  and  so  on.     The  fuller  the  details  and  the 
greater  the  use  that  is  made  of  the  existing  stock  of 
words,  the  better.     In  telling  the  story  the  teacher 
calls  attention  to  the  endings  of  the  passe"  historique  : 
'  Je  ne  dis  pas  quitte  ou  quittait,  mais  quitta ' ;  but 
for  the  time  being  he  makes  no  further  comment. 
When  he  has  come  to  the  end  of  the  story  it  is 
reconstructed  by  means  of  question  and  answer. 

The  books  are  opened  and  the  story  is  read.     The 
pupils  are  now  called  upon  to  pick  out  the  various 

1  This  is  a.  better  term  than  passt  dtfini. 


88  Running  Commentary 

actions  which  really  constitute  the  narrative,  and  the 
teacher  writes  the  verbs  on  the  blackboard.  The 
pupils  then  look  at  the  story  of  the  book,  and  will 
come  to  recognise  that  the  pass6  historique  gives  the 
consecutive  actions  of  which  the  beginning  and  end 
are  determined  by  other  actions,  while  the  imperfect 
interrupts  the  course  of  the  narrative,  and  tells  us 
what  was  there  already  (the  state  of  things). 

The  pupils'  attention  is  drawn  to  the  $  in  commen$a, 
to  commencer  ay  vouloir,  pouvoir,  aller  with  infinitive, 
ttre  dbligt  de. 

4,  5,  and  6  afford  further  practice  in  distinguishing 
the  imperfect  and  passt  historique. 

Points  to  be  noticed  are  : — 

in  4 — pour  Tentendre  parler;  entrer  dans;  un 
moment  ou  ( =  dans  lequel) ;  etait  (not  avait)  sorti ; 
ou  se  trouvait  1'oiseau  (order  of  words) ;  faire  plaisir 
(no  article) ; 

in  5 — en  f aisant ;  au  petit  chat ;  mute  I  in  gentil ; 

in  6 — brode's  d'or ;  sur  la  t6te ;  se  laissa  prendre 
les  poires;  demander  a  (the  pupils  should  make 
up  several  sentences  containing  examples  of  this) ; 
repondit  le  paysan  (inversion  in  parenthetical  state- 
ments is  the  rule  in  French ;  it  is  not  optional  as  in 
English) ;  le  courage  de  les  leur  refuser. 

For  practising  verbal  and  pronominal  forms  these  and  simi- 
lar narratives  are  convenient.  They  can  be  told  again  as 
happening  now,  or  about  to  happen ;  for  the  third  person 
we  may  substitute  the  first  or  second,  making  all  necessary 
changes.  It  is  only  when  pupils  can  do  this  readily  and 
without  apparent  effort  that  we  are  justified  in  saying  that 


Second  Book:  Nos.  4-10  89 

they  '  know '  their  French  verbs  and  pronouns.    It  tests  some- 
thing more  than  the  mere  parrot  knowledge  of  paradigms. 

7.  An  example  of  the  parfait  antirieu^occurs  here ; 
the  pupil  will  not  meet  with  it  often  at  this  stage, 
and  it  would  be  a  mistake  at  once  to  burden  him 
with  a  list  of  all  the  conjunctions  after  which  it  is 
found.     At  present  he  may  be  content  with  des  que. 
Other  points  to  be  noticed  are :  de  son  gout ;  n'en 
voulait  pas ;  s'en  f &cha ;  en  preparer ;  en  disant  (cp. 
No.  5);  promettre  de  preparer;  s'empresser  de-}  lui 
demanda;  assaiso?mer. 

8.  Notice :     s'approcher ;     perdre    courage    (no 
article,    cp.  faire   plaisir,   No.   4) ;    se   coucher  par 
terre;   mort  de  peur;   etait  monte1;   Z'oreille;  avant 
de  with  infinitive. 

The  pupils  are  much  inclined  to  give  the  English  stress  to 
such  words  as  approcher,  retourner. 

9.  Notice :    trouver    moyen   (no   article) ;    allait 
1'attraper   (this   use   of    aller  to   express    what   is 
about  to  happen  should  be  practised  by  making  up 
sentences  containing  examples  of  it) ;  souffrant  (the 
ordinary    word    for    '  ill ') ;    toute    une    bouteille ; 
toucher  a. 

10.  Notice  :  bon  pour ;  ne  .  .  .  jamais  de  peine, 
defendu  d'aller  (cp.  Defense  de  fumer) ;  un  jour  que  \ 
il  en  vit  un;  qui  s'approchait  (  =  present  participle 
in  English) ;    e"quilibre  (qu  pronounced  k).      With 
blanchisseuse  cp.  blanchir  (reverdir,  No.  1). 

1  Or  :  Second  passd  parfait. 


90  Running  Commentary 

11.  Notice:  le  page  (cp.  la  page);  roi  de  Prusse 
(in  apposition,  no  article);    ne   personne;  fauteuil 
(mute  1) ;  qui  sortait  (our  present  participle,  cp.  qui 
s'approehait,  No.  10);  correspondence ;  apres  avoir 
eu    (not    present    infinitive);    alia    prendre,   allait 
s'excuser  (cp.  allait  1'attraper,  No.  9) ;  retire,  palit, 
regarde  (historic   present,  frequently  introduced  in 
French  amid  a  series  of  verbs  in  the  past) ;  je  ne 
sais  (without  pas) ;  en  souriant ;  sommeil  (mute  /, 
cp.  gentil,  No.  5). 

12.  Notice :     suisse     (no     capital,     cp.     anglais, 
fran9ais);    gros   chien   noir   (place   of    adjectives); 
d'un  ceil  triste ;  lui  .  .  .  au  cou ;  ou  ( =  dans  lequel, 
cp.  No.  4)  il  racontait ;  de  retour ;  accompagne  de. 

Lessons  13-15  call  for  no  comment;  their  purpose 
is  to  give  the  conditional  and  the  present  sub- 
junctive, the  only  tenses  not  yet  familiar  that  are 
of  real  importance. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  dictate  some  of  the  new  words,  the 
spelling  of  which  may  give  trouble  to  some  pupils.  The 
following  will  serve  as  a  test :  — 

Nos.  3-6.  La  haie,  severement,  Touverture,  cares- 
ser,  le  plaisir,  presque,  une  erreur,  des  ce  moment, 
respectueusement,  vetu,  posseder,  une  epee,  6ter,  le 
voleur,  la  queue,  malheureusement,  refuser,  la  poche, 
gentil,  le  singe,  le  chat,  oblige,  se  facher,  le  courage, 
se  rendre,  s'enfuir,  crier,  la  griffe,  le  gout,  appeler. 

Nos.  7-10.  Le  mets,  s'empresser,  terrible,  des 
que,  la  fievre,  la  bouteille,  le  soleil,  entralner,  un 
e'cureuil,  la  peau,  une  epaule,  s'approcher,  mort,  fort> 


Second  Book:  Revision  (3-12)         91 

Tours,  assaisonner,  le  poisson,  lorsque,  se  baisser,  se 
placer,  jusqu'a  Paris,  parce  que,  le  fugitif,  large,  la 
planche,  le  coucher,  plier,  descendre,  attraper,  de- 
fendre,  le  cadavre,  la  peur,  1'^quilibre,  vendre,  la 
blanchisseuse,  soufFrant,  le  eamarade,  le  signe. 

Nos.  11,  12.  La  ferme,  le  billet,  connaitre,  la  cor- 
respondance,  vers  la  ville,  la  lettre,  excuser,  le  page, 
intelligent,  attacher,  le  fauteuil,  profond,  le  dormeur, 
bloquer,  aussit6t,  la  provision,  le  torrent,  sauver,  le 
sommeil,  un  oeil,  la  cime,  le  commencement,  le  roi, 
habiter,  le  compagnon,  ainsi,  le  panier,  une  idee,  la 
vie,  le  coup. 

We  now  begin  the  reading  of  a  connected  story. 
As  in  the  work  done  hitherto,  we  do  not  let  the 
pupils  prepare  what  is  new,  but  we  go  through  it 
with  them  first,  and  then  let  them  revise. 

The  teacher  reads  one  sentence1after  the  other ;  if 
he  likes,  they  may  be  repeated  by  individual  pupils, 
or  occasionally  in  chorus.  After  each  sentence  he 
pauses,  in  order  to  give  the  pupils  an  opportunity  of 
saying  with  which  words  they  are  not  familiar,  either 
because  they  are  new,  or  occur  with  a  new  meaning, 
or  have  been  forgotten.  The  teacher  may  give  the 
English ;  but  it  is  much  better  to  give  a  simple 
explanation  in  French,  using  the  words  which  his 
pupils  know.  It  gives  them  great  pleasure  to  be  able 
to  understand  him  as  he  speaks  the  foreign  language ; 
the  teacher  leads  them  to  understand  the  meaning 
by  his  explanation,  and  sometimes  by  asking  suitable 
questions,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  joy  of  discovery 
is  left  to  them.  To  obtain  this  result  they  have  to 
1  Or  breath -group,  if  the  sentence  is  not  quite  short. 


92  Running  Commentary 

exercise  a  certain  amount  of  effort ;  and  they  value 
the  knowledge  gained  because  it  is  felt  to  be  due  to 
their  active  participation. 

It  is  essential  that  what  has  been  learnt  should 
become  the  pupil's  lasting  possession.  This  is  en- 
sured by  various  means  : — 

1.  Words  are  repeated  from  the  point  of  view 
of  their  meaning.     All   new  words  are   printed  in 
clarendon  type,  and  the  teacher  asks  a  perfectly 
simple  question  about  each ;  or  he  asks  the  pupils  to 
introduce  them  into  a  little  sentence,  to  show  that 
they  know  the  meaning;  or  he  asks  them  to  give 
brief  definitions,  opposites,  synonyms,  words  etymo- 
logically  connected,  etc.     These  exercises  gradually 
take  .the  place  of  the  questions  which  were  mainly 
used  in  the  beginning  (First  Book). 

2.  Words  are  repeated  from  the  point  of  view  of 
their  spelling.     Suitable  sets  of  words  for  dictation 
are  given  for  the  convenience  of  teachers. 

3.  The    pupils   go   through    the    'Repetition    et 
Exercices.' 

4.  The  dictation  of   connected  passages  is  very 
useful,  and  a  number  of  pieces  have  been  prepared 
for  this  purpose.     They  are  based  on  the  text,  but 
differ  from  it  considerably  in  the  mode  of  expres- 
sion.    They  may  be   utilised   also  as   model  'free 
compositions ' :  the  subject  is  given  to  the  pupils,  it 
is  talked   through  in  class,  and   they  write  it  out 
in  French  at  home.     In  the  case  of  a  class  of  less 
than  average  power,  it  may  be  well  in  the  beginning 
to  supply  them  with  a  brief  outline. 


Second  Book:  No.  16  93 

In  each  of  these  exercises  the  words  of  the  text  are 
approached  from  a  different  standpoint.  This  makes 
the  pupil  thoroughly  acquainted  with  them,  and 
enables  him  to  use  them  fluently.  Such  a  treatment 
obviates  the  danger  of  the  text  being  followed  too 
closely,  in  which  case  the  memory  is  almost  ex- 
clusively called  into  play,  the  power  of  observation 
being  insufficiently  stimulated. 

Homework.  The  pupils  go  carefully  through  what 
has  been  done  in  class,  using  the  *  explications  de 
mots '  to  refresh  their  memory.  In  the  next  lesson 
they  are  asked  about  the  contents  of  the  lesson. 
The  lessons  do  not  all  lend  themselves  equally  well  to 
this,  and  the  teacher  may  have  to  display  some  skill 
in  framing  his  questions.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to 
recapitulate  every  sentence;  indeed  it  is  advisable 
to  avoid  any  close  adherence  to  the  actual  words  of 
the  lesson. 

In  the  notes  which  follow  it  will  be  found  that — 

A  contains  what  is  noticeable  in  the  way  of  grammar  ; 

B  difficulties  of  spelling ; 

C  difficulties  of  pronunciation. 

16.  A.  quoique;  tout  enfant;  apprendre  a;  il 
Pavait  vue  pleurer ;  grande  maison  tres  haute  (order 
of  adjectives);  toute  pleine;  de  Pautre  c6te;  finir 
par  comprendre ;  ils  auraient  e"te  (cp.  I  have  been  to 
see  him) ;  jour  de  semaine  (no  article). 

B.  tdche;  to-haut. 

(7.  reflexion,  enterrer,  impossible  (not  with  English 
stress). 


94  Running  Commentary 

j 

17.  A.  gentiment    (cp.    pronunciation   of    gentil, 
No.  5) ;  tout  en  marchant ;  sonner  creux  (cp.  parler 
haut) ;    le  pauvre  cercueil  (place  of  adjective) ;    il 
faisait  peine  a  voir ;  on  le  fit  sortir ;  le  chemin  de  la 
maison. 

B.  c^monie,  cercweil,  dommage,  d^sesp&e*. 

C.  emporter  (not  with  English  stress). 

18.  A.  honte  (cp.  Honni  soit  qui  mal  y  pense) ; 
se  sentir  les  yeux  tout  sees ;  blondinette,  chambrette 
and  fossette  (in  the  footnote  to  fosse,  No.  17)  are 
diminutives ;  au  quatrieme  (etage) ;  il  veut  que  tu 
1'attendes   (cp.  No.   14;    the   pupils   should  collect 
instances  of  the  subjunctive)  \  toute  basse  (examples 
of  tout  =  quite  are  frequent  in  Nos.  16-18,  and  might 
be  collected) ;  rester  a  ne  rien  dire ;  s'etaient  assis ; 
on  ne  pouvait  (no  pas) ;    il  ne  savait  pas  bien  si 
(introducing  indirect  question) ;  aura-t-il  trouve  (in- 
version ;  idea  of  probability  in  future  perfect). 

Ce  que  le  docteur  dirait  a  Pierre.  The  pupils  should  realise 
that  the  "future  in  the  past"  (or  conditional)  here  retains 
its  original  force,  in  French  as  in  English. 

je  sais  ce  qu'il  dira 


-4- 


Past          Present  Future 

(moment  at  which  we 

are  speaking). 

Transfer  this  to  the  Past,  and  we  have : 
je  savais  ce  qu'il  dirait 

+ J x -> 

Present  Future  Present  Future 

\  /  (moment  at  which  we 

in  the  Past  are  speaking). 


Second  Book:  Nos.  17-20  95 

That  is  to  say,  je  savais  and  il  dirait  both  refer  to  the  past ; 
but  the  tense  shows  that  je  sayais  expresses  something  previous 
to  il  dirait  Compare : 

I  know  what  he  will  say 
and 
t  knew  what  he  would  say. 

B.  chocolat,  compagnie,  peut-etre,  croix. 

C.  attendre,    regarder,   travailler,    observer    (not 
with   English    stress);    b  in   observer    pronounced 

e* 

19.  A.  J'ai  a  te  parler;  $a  (colloquial  for  cela); 
aille ;    dep£che-toi  (imperative  of   reflexive  verbs) ; 
une  dr61e  de  moue  (cp.  a  beast  of   a  horse);    en 
s'asseyant ;  te  sens-tu  la  force ;  a  qui  sa  mere  avait 
appris  de  .  .  . 

B.  depecher,  drole,  energie,  verite,  moquer  (other 
words  with  qu  might  be  collected). 

It  might  be  pointed  out  that  the  French  use  qu  to  make 
up  for  the  absence  of  k.  This  explains— public,  f.  publique  ; 
turc,  f.  turque. 

C.  hausser  (no  liaison,  cp.  haut). 

20.  A.  avoir  raison ;    se  casser  le  nez  (other  ex- 
amples might  be  collected);   si  tu  serais  (indirect 
question) ;  s'il  t'arrivait  .  .  .  (condition) ;  le  travail 
a  faire;   avant  de  mourir;   tu  ne  te  souviens  pas 
(tone  of  voice  alone  indicating  question) ;    si   fait 
(affirmative  answer  to  a  negative  question) ;  il  avait 
la  voix  douce  (cp.  avoir  les  yeux  bleus) ;  etre  fermier 
(no  article);   aupres  de;   chose  dangereuse  (in  ap- 
position ;  no  article). 

B.  mesaventure,  rapporter,  aine*. 


96  Running  Commentary 

C.  puisque  (ui  as  in  lui,  not  like  oui  in  Louis) ; 
obscurite,  rapporter,  commencer,  intelligent,  amuser 
(not  with  English  stress). 

21.  A.  hors  de  lui ;  pour  que  je  te  le  dise ;  &  la 
condition  qu'il  n'entendrait  plus  (future  in  the  past, 
cp.  No.  18);  en  Amerique;  faire  fortune;  il  faillit 
mourir ;  mourir  de  faim. 

B.  rever,  navire. 

C.  condition,   embarquer,    deposer,  consoler  (not 
with  English  stress). 

22.  A.  jamais  il  ne  put  (order  of  words) ;  il  faut 
te  souvenir ;  il  lui  semblait  que  .  .  .  f aisait,  il  sem- 
blait  si  naturel  qu'on  t'aimat  (cp.  No.  14  A) ;  elle  veut 
que  tu  ailles ;  ce  que  tu  voudras  (future,  more  pre- 
cise than  our  usage) ;  elle  s'y  est  refuse'e ;  s'il  pouvait 
(instances  of  conditional  clauses  might  be  collected) ; 
faire  honneur. 

B.  distingue,  se*cher. 

C.  he'roique    (liaison ;    but   none   in  he"ros) ;    re- 
pentir,  accomplir,  persuader,  distingue,  desirer  (not 
with  English  stress) ;  persuader  (u  not  as  in  English 
persuade). 

23.  A.    bien     entendu    (absolute    construction); 
1'argent  de  ton  voyage;  des  troisiemes  =  billets  de 
troisieme  classe  (cp.  quatrieme  for  quatrieme  e'tage, 
No.  18);  ou  demeure  P.D.  (other  instances  of  this 
word  order  might  be  collected) ;  bons  pour  ta  mere 
(cp.   No.    10);   aie   (imperative);   les  yeux  rouges 
(absolute  construction);  qui  faisait  (we  should  use 


Second  Book:  Nos.  20-24  97 

present  participle) ;  il  y  penserait ;  finirait  par 
oublier  (cp.  No.  16);  dix  sous  (how  much1?  revision 
of  French  coinage) ;  toute  neuve  (revision  of  tout) ; 
sans  rien  dire  (rien  =  quelque  chose). 

B.  a^resse,  vetement,  sur  (cp.  sur),  poupee. 

C.  emmener  (em  as  in  sembler),  respect  (ct  mute). 

24.  A.  des  que  (cp.  No.  7);  a  grand  appetit; 
changer  d'assiettes;  changeait  (other  examples  of 
-ge-) ;  en  sourit ;  on  le  mettrait  (future  in  the  past, 
No.  18);  se  faire  montrer  la  gare;  pieces  blanches 
(i.e.  silver  coins). 

B.  recommander  (cp.  correspondence,  No.  11). 

C.  possession,    expliquer,    recommander,    arriver 
(not  with  English  accent). 

Words  for  Dictation  (Nos.  16-24). 

Refle'chir,  e*norme,  enterrer,  maigre,  la  ce're'monie, 
la  priere,  observer,  laid,  desespe're',  Pouvriere, 
Pierre,  cadet,  essay er,  vrai,  se  de'p^cher,  lestement, 
se'cher,  Tadresse,  la  raison,  TOc^an,  la  veste,  r6ver, 
epouser,  le  recit,  le  vetement,  la  dette,  le  proprie'taire, 
aine,  payer,  en  effet,  decrocher,  quoique,  le  cercueil, 
sec,  coin,  se  moquer,  se  croiser,  le  chocolat,  le  lieu,  le 
logement,  Touvrage,  juste,  Tenergie,  s'imaginer,  le 
brancard,  le  silence,  les  gens,  la  France,  le  repentir, 
recommander,  la  me'saventure,  1'orphelin,  le  chagrin, 
impossible,  emporter,  s'endetter,  la  chambrette,  en- 
courager,  le  client,  trembler,  entre,  Ten  vie,  s'embar- 
quer,  dangereux,  emmener,  accomplir,  le  linge,  main- 
tenant,  rien,  la  fa9on,  brusque,  se  hausser,  puisque, 
Pe'ducation,  la  condition,  persuader,  possible,  la  por- 


98,  Running  Commentary 

celaine,  la  possession,  la  bourse,  cesser,  drole,  bien  sur, 
sur  la  maison,  une  tache  d'encre,  la  tache  de  Pierre, 
la  moue,  mourir,  le  navire,  Paiguiile,  le  travailleur, 
faillir,  attirer,  rapporter,  gagner,  secouer,  raachinale- 
ment,  cordialement,  distingu6,  le  voyageur,  Phonneur, 
la  honte. 

Passages  for  Dictation. 

Lepere  de  Pierre.  Le  grand-pere  de  Pierre  e*tait 
paysan.  II  avait  deux  fils.  II  envoya  Paine  dans  les 
e"coles  de  Paris.  Au  bout  de  quelques  ann6es  celui-ci 
e'tait  avocat  at  avait  de"ja  commenc6  a  faire  son  chemin. 
Dans  ce  temps  son  pere  mourut,  ne  laissant  rien  a  ses 
deux  fils.  Le  cadet  etait  tres  intelligent ;  c'est  pour- 
quoi  Paine*  le  fit  veriir  a  Paris  et  lui  donna  une  bonne 
Education.  Malheureusement  le  cadet  aimait  trop  le 
plaisir.  II  joua  tres  souvent  avec  des  jeunes  gens. 
Un  jour  il  perdit ;  il  voulut  se  rattraper  et  perdit  plus 
encore.  Pour  pouvoir  payer  sa  dette,  il  vola  une 
grosse  somme  a  son  patron.  Celui-ci  alia  dire  a 
Pavocat  ce  que  son  frere  cadet  avait  fait.  L'avocat 
paya  la  dette  de  son  frere,  mais  il  lui  dit  qu'il  ne 
voulait  plus  le  voir.  Le  frere  cadet  alia  en  Ame'- 
rique.  Mais  dans  ce  pays  il  ne  fit  pas  fortune,  et 
bient6t  il  eut  le  desir  de  revoir  la  France.  Comme 
il  n'avait  pas  d'argent,  il  travailla  sur  un  navire 
pour  gagner  Pargent  de  son  voyage.  II  arriva  a  St- 
Nazaire  ou  il  trouva  un  travail  de  copiste.  Une 
ouvriere,  a  laquelle  il  avait  raconte*  son  histoire  et  qui 
Pavait  conso!6,  devint  sa  femme ;  mais  apres  quelques 
anne'es,  il  mourut,  le  chagrin  et  le  desespoir  dans  le 
cceur,  et  laissant  sa  femine  et  son  fils  dans  la  misere. 


Second  Book:  Revision  (16-24)         99 

Madame. Delsart  et  son  fils.  St-Nazaire  est  uue  ville 
de  France.  Elle  est  situe"e  a  Tembouchure  de  la 
Loire.  Dans  cette  ville  demeurait  une  ouvriere. 
Son  mari  etait  mort,  et  elle  e*tait  obligee  de  gagner 
sa  vie  et  celle  de  son  fils.  Cette  femme  etait  madame 
Delsart.  Avec  son  fils  Pierre  elle  habitait  une  petite 
mansarde  d'une  grande  maison.  Elle  etait  bien 
pauvre,  cette  mansarde ;  il  y  avait  un  lit,  une  chaise 
de  paille  et  une  malle,  pas  d'autres  meubles.  Le 
petit  Pierre  avait  dix  ans ;  c'e'tait  un  brave  gar$on 
qui  aidait  sa  mere  autant  qu'il  pouvait.  II  faisait  des 
commissions  pour  elle :  il  portait  le  travail  fini  et 
rapportait  le  travail  a  faire  ;  il  recevait  de  1'argent, 
et  il  n'en  perdit  jamais ;  il  allait  acheter  du  pain  et 
de  la  viande,  et  il  faisait  si  bien  que  sa  mere  lui 
disait  souvent :  Tu  es  un  petit  homrne.  Ses  voisins 
Taimaient  aussi.  Un  jour  sa  mere  tomba  malade. 
On  alia  chercher  le  docteur  Dubois ;  celui-ci  donna 
tous  ses  soins  a  la  malade,  mais  malgre  cela,  la  pauvre 
malade  mourut. 

L'enterrement  de  madame  Delsart.  La  mere  de 
Pierre  etait  morte.  Le  jour  apres  sa  mort,  on 
apporta  un  cercueil  et  on  y  mit  la  morte.  Encore 
un  jour  apres,  la  voiture  noire  s'arr^ta  devant  la 
maison  laide ;  deux  hommes  monterent  dans  la 
chambrette  et  porterent  le  cercueil  en  bas;  ils  le 
mirent  sur  le  brancard,  et  deux  chevaux  com< 
mencerent  a  tirer  la  voiture.  Pierre  seul  la  suivit. 
Les  voisins  n'en  avaient  pas  le  temps  ;  car  c'etait  jour 
de  semaine,  et  puisqu'ils  etaient  pauvres,  ils  etaient 
obliges  de  travailler.  II  ne  faisait  pas  beau  temps  ; 
la  pluie  tombait,  et  Pierre,  marchant  sous  la  pluie, 


ioo  Running  Commentary 


bien  triste.  Bient6t  on  arriva  au  cimeti&re,  et 
la  voiture  noire  s'arr£ta  devant  une  fosse.  On  y 
deposa  le  cercueil  et  le  cure  fit  une  petite  pri&re. 
Alors  on  jeta  de  la  terre  sur  le  cercueil.  Pierre 
sanglotait  ;  il  resta  devant  la  fosse  et  ne  perisa  pas  a 
quitter  le  cimetiere;  il  fallut  le  faire  sortir,  et 
machinalement  il  retourna  a  la  maison. 

Pierre  et  son  amie.  Pierre  avait  une  petite  amie 
de  palier.  C'^tait  Lisette,  une  enfant  de  quatre 
ans.  Lorsque  Pierre  revint  de  Penterrement  de  sa 
m&re,  Lisette  Pattendait  devant  la  porte  de  la 
chambrette;  elle  lui  raconta  que  le  docteur  Dubois 
^tait  venu,  qu'il  6tait  alle  ensuite  au  quatri&me 
et  qu'il  reviendrait  pour  lui  parler.  Les  enfants 
entr&reiit  dans  la  mansarde  et  s'assirent  sur  la 
petite  malle.  Lisette  tira  de  sa  poche  un  gros 
morceau  de  pain  et  un  bout  de  chocolat  et  partagea 
son  goiiter  avec  son  ami.  Bientdt  le  docteur  entra 
dans  la  chambrette.  C'etait  un  homme  tr&s  bon  au 
fond,  mais  un  peu  brusque.  II  dit  a  Lisette  de  sortir 
et  de  les  laisser  seuls.  Lisette  ^tait  un  peu  curieuse 
et  aurait  aim4  a  entendre  ce  que  le  docteur  racon- 
terait  a  Pierre;  c'est  pourquoi  elle  fit  d'abord  la 
moue.  Mais  Pierre  lui  souffla  qu'il  lui  raconterait 
tout,  et  alors  elle  sortit. 

Pierre  et  le  doctewr  Dubois.  Pendant  quatre  ana 
la  m&re  de  Pierre  travailla  du  matin  au  soir,  mais 
ensuite  elle  ri'en  eut  plus  la  force.  Elle  sentait 
ses  forces  s'en  aller.  Alors  elle  raconta  au  docteur 
Dubois  1'histoire  de  son  mari  et  le  pria  de  faire  ce 
qu'elle  n'avait  pas  la  force  de  faire  elle-meme  :  de  la 
raconter,  apres  sa  mort,  a  Pierre.  Le  bon  docteur  fit 


Second  Book :  Revision  (16-24)       I01 

ce  qu'elle  avait  desire".  Ce  qu'il  raconta  a  Pierre,  fit 
plus  de  mal  a  celui-ci  que  la  mort  de  sa  maman ;  mais 
il  promit  de  faire  ce  que  sa  mere  avait  desire1  :  d'aller 
a  Paris  trouver  son  oncle,  de  devenir  un  homme 
distingue  et  de  payer  la  dette  de  son  pere  avec  la 
sienne.  Le  docteur  parla  de  Pierre  a  quelques  clients 
qui  lui  donnerent  1'argent  pour  faire  le  voyage. 
Pierre  dit  adieu  a  tous  ceux  qui  avaient  e"te  bons 
pour  sa  mere.  Plusieurs  lui  donnerent  encore 
quelques  sous,  et  Lisette  fourra  sa  poupee  en  porce- 
laine,  grand  e  comme  un  doigt  d'enfant,  dans  le 
paquet  de  Pierre.  Celui-ci  alia  alors  dans  la  maison 
du  docteur  Dubois  oh  on  le  re9ut  tres  cordialement. 

Dans  la  maison  du  docteur.  Pierre  etait  tres 
heureux  de  diner  avec  la  famille.  Jamais  il  n'avait 
vu  une  table  aussi  bien  servie  et  une  nappe  toute 
blanche.  Jamais  il  n'avait  eu  une  serviette  dans  la 
mansarde ;  jamais  il  n'avait  vu  plusieurs  personnes 
a  table.  Apres  le  diner  le  docteur  lui  dit  le 
chemin  qu'il  devait  preridre  et  lui  donna  Targent 
pour  faire  le  voyage  de  Nantes  a  Paris  en  chemin  de 
fer.  Madame  Dubois  lui  donna  quelques  pieces 
d'argent  et  les  cousit  dans  la  doublure  de  sa  veste. 
Tu  seras,  dit-elle,  peut-£tre  content  de  retrouver  cet 
argent.  Pendant  la  nuit  Pierre  dormit  dans  un  joli 
lit  chaud,  et  le  lendemain  il  dit  adieu  a  la  bonne 
famille  Dubois  en  la  remerciant  bien  fort,  les  yeux 
pleins  de  larmes.  Le  docteur  Taccompagna  alors  sur 
le  navire  qui  le  menerait  a  Nantes  ou  il  devait  so 
faire  montrer  la  gare  et  prendre  un  billet  de 
troisieme. 


102  Running  Commentary 

26^  A.  lorsque  tu  seras  (future,  more  accurate 
than  our  present,  cp.  No.  22) ;  chercher  a  faire  quel- 
que  chose ;  s'il  pouvait  (il  serait  bien  content) ;  tout 
d'un  coup ;  que  ce  serait  (future  in  the  past) ;  comme 
parent  (no  article) ;  la  tete  lui  tournait  (not  sa  t6te  ; 
several  examples  have  occurred,  and  might  be  col- 
lected) ;  ouvrir  les  yeux  tout  grands  (cp.  une  porte 
grande  ouverte);  faire  le  brave  (cp.  faire  le  mort, 
No.  8) ;  verdure  (cp.  vert,  reverdir,  verdatre). 

B.  ensoleille,  gwise,  trover,  int^t,  lointain. 

C.  lointain,   fier    (r    not    mute),    eloign6   (other 
examples  of  gn  might  be  collected) ;   installer,  res- 
sembler  (not  with  English  stress). 

27.  A.  prendre  garde;   un  paquet  a  cote  de  lui 
(absolute   construction;   several   other   examples  in 
this  section) ;   aimer  a ;  qui  est  avocat  (no  article ; 
such  instances  might  be  collected) ;   etant  revenus 
(perfect  participle) ;    les   premieres   (cp.  troisiemes, 
No.  23) ;  ni .  .  .  ni .  .  .  ne ;  eut  parle  (subjunctive) ; 
penchee  sur. 

B.  volaille,  regard  (not  e). 

C.  attention,  admirer  (not  with  English  stress). 

28.  A.  sortir  (transitive) ;  en  mains  (no  article  or 
possessive  adjective);  jouer  aux  cartes  (du  piano); 
sentir  mauvais,  bon   (cp.    sormer   creux,    No.    17); 
tout  en  crachant ;  poliment  (cp.  gentiment  and  other 
adverbs;  they  might  be  collected);   qu'on  fit  (sub- 
junctive) ;  de  la  haute  (colloquial ;  supply  some  such 
word  as  socie"te) ;  les  ndtres ;  naif-ve  (other  adjectives 
with   similar   formation   of   feminine  might  be  col- 


Second  Book :  Nos.  26-31  103 

lected) ;  tenant  son  paquet  bien  a  la  main  (not 
dans  la  main). 

B.  gener,  rejoindre  (not  e),  naif,  remue-menage, 
effrayer. 

(7.  importance  (not  with  English  stress). 

29.  A.  plantee   d'arbres;  avec  le  camarade;    de 
quoi  (cp.  [il  n'y  a]  pas  de  quoi,  don't  mention  it) ;  il 
avait  Tair  fach6 ;  (il  n'y  a)  pas  de  troisiemes ;  il  faut 
que  nous  attendions ;   avoir  en  vie  de ;    mon  prince 
(cp.  monsieur,  madame,  mon  capitaine). 

B.  qu&i. 

C.  arreter,  protecteur  (not  with  English  stress). 

30.  A.  tout  a  fait  (cp.  tout  a  coup,  tout  d'un  coup, 
tout  de  suite) ;  dinette  (diminutive,  cp.  blondinette 
and   chambrette,    No.    19);    avoir   honte ;    prendre 
plaisir  a ;  ayant  achete*  (perfect  participle) ;  ou  Ton  ; 
grand'faim,  grand'soif  (cp.  grand'mere) ;  la  tete  lui 
tournait. 

B.  heros,  botanize,  aventure. 

C.  heros    (no    liaison) ;    botanique,    compagnon, 
d^penser,  aventure  (not  with  English  stress). 

31.  A.  ne  .  .  .  aucun;  (devrait-il,  fallait-il)  tour- 
ner ;  a  qui  (il  pourrait)  demander ;  il  prendrait  (he 
said  to  himself  :  je  prendrai). 

B.  ^v^nement,    envelopper,    abando/iwer,     parti, 
jaque^e. 

C.  envelopper,    abandonner    (not    with    English 
stress). 


104  Running  Commentary 

Wards  for  Dictation  (Nos.  26-31). 

S'etonner,  eloigner,  ramener,  etaler,  le  quai,  une 
allee,  decouvert,  r6v6nement,  la  r&ponse,  le  desert, 
decidement,  Tinter^t,  la  ferme,  la  verdure,  la  plai- 
santerie,  la  recherche,  gener,  la  passerelle,  le  spec- 
tacle, effrayer,  le  protecteur,  la  levre,  la  faiblesse,  la 
jaquette,  le  fleuve,  la  grandeur,  mieux,  le  cheveu,  la 
volaille,  causer,  la  robe,  le  port,  auparavant,  en 
dehors,  aucun,  Tendroit,  Tattention,  la  tente,  se 
pencher,  ensemble,  entretenir,  Taventure,  le  silence, 
envelopper,  loin  tain,  la  fin,  1'individu,  rejoindre,  Tim- 
portance,  prochain,  int6resser,  demain,  le  brin,  se 
hater,  la  dinette,  apercevoir,  la  conscience,  la  de- 
pense,  la  pelouse,  se  lasser,  patient,  epuiser,  inaper^u. 
tousser,  la  reconnaissance,  la  surveillance,  merci,  le 
prince,  la  joue,  chagrin er,  la  voyageuse,  la  fatigue,  se 
diriger,  a j  outer,  leger,  le  quartier,  inoccupe,  tran- 
quille,  la  moquerie,  botanique,  la  charcuterie,  le 
coude,  le  coeur,  en  guise,  naif,  le  remue-menage,  le 
parti. 

Passages  for  Dictation. 

Sur  le  bateau  a  vapeur.  Lorsque  le  docteur  et 
Pierre  arriverent  au  port,  on  jeta  une  passerelle,  et 
Pierre  monta  sur  le  bateau  a  vapeur.  II  y  voyait 
arriver  des  paysans  apportant  des  cages  de  volailles 
et  les  mettant  sur  le  pont;  des  messieurs  et  des 
dames,  allant  a  la  premiere  classe  et  s'asseyant  sous 
la  tente  bien  tendue  ou  ils  ^taient  bien  a  1'aise ;  il 
entendait  rire  et  causer.  Enfin  on  retira  la  passerelle 
sur  le  bateau  a  vapeur,  la  cloche  sonna,  et  le  navire 


Second  Book:  Revision  (26-31)       105 

se  mit  en  mouvement  et  sortit  du  port.  D'abord 
la  tete  tourna  un  peu  a  Pierre,  parce  que  c'£tait  la 
premiere  f ois  qu'il  quittait  la  terre  f erme ;  mais  il  se 
fit  vite  au  mouvement  et  comme^a  alors  a  regarder 
les  rives  de  la  Loire  qui  etaient  assez  loin  tain  es  a 
cet  endroit ;  leur  verdure  lui  semblait  la  plus  belle 
chose  du  monde.  Apres  avoir  regarde  longtemps, 
notre  voyageur  s'installa  dans  un  coin.  La  faim  se 
faisant  sentir,  Pierre  ouvrit  son  petit  paquet  et  en 
tira  son  dejeuner  :  de  la  viande  froide  et  un  morceau 
de  pain.  II  les  mangea  de  bon  app^tit. 

Les  deux  voleurs.  Apres  le  dejeuner,  Pierre  sortit 
son  argent  de  sa  poche  et  se  mit  a  le  compter.  II 
etait  fier  d'avoir  une  telle  somme.  Malheureusement 
deux  individus,  qui  jouaient  aux  cartes,  le  virent. 
Us  se  Ian cerent  un  regard  et  firent  comme  si  la 
partie  e'tait  finie.  Us  se  leverent  et  se  dirigerent, 
sans  se  hater,  du  c6te  de  1'enfant,  en  f umant  des  pipes 
qui  sentaient  mauvais.  Us  firent  parler  Pierre  qui 
leur  raconta  naivement  qui  il  6tait  et  ou  il  allait. 
Les  deux  hommes  lui  dirent  qu'ils  allaient  aussi  a 
Paris  et  que,  a  Nantes,  ils  lui  montreraient  la  gare. 
Lorsque  le  bateau  arriva  &  Nantes,  il  y  eut  un  grand 
remue-menage,  et  Pierre,  un  peu  effraye  de  ce  bruit, 
suivit  les  deux  hommes.  Mais  au  lieu  de  le  mener  a 
la  gare,  ils  le  menerent  dans  le  jardin  botanique  qui 
lui  semblait  le  plus  bel  endroit  du  monde  parce  qu'il 
y  avait  1&  des  pelouses  tres  vertes,  de  grandes  allies 
bien  entretenues,  de  belles  fleurs.  L'un  des  hommes 
alia  acheter  de  quoi  manger  et  revint  bientdt  avec  de 
la  charcuterie,  du  pain  et  deux  bouteilles  de  vin. 
Ils  allerent  a  quelque  distance  de  la  ville,  ou  ils 


106  Running  Commentary 

commencerent  a  diner.  Les  deux  homines  en- 
couragerent  Pierre  a  boire  beaucoup.  Le  vin  lui 
montait  a  la  tete,  il  parlait  sans  cesse,  ne  sachant 
pas  ce  qu'il  disait.  Les  deux  compagnons  le 
menerent  dans  une  grange  voisine  en  disant 
qu'ils  dormiraient  bien  sur  le  foin.  Bientot  Pierre 
s'endormit,  et  alors  ses  deux  eompagnons  lui 
volerent  1'argent. 

Le  rdveil.  Le  lendemain  il  faisait  deja  grand 
jour  lorsque  Pierre  se  reveilla.  D'abord  il  ne  put  se 
rappeler  oh  il  e"tait.  II  se  leva  sur  son  coude  et 
regarda  autour  de  lui.  II  vit  le  foin,  il  vit  qu'il  etait 
dans  une  grange,  et  il  se  rappela  les  evenements  de 
la  veille.  II  chercha  des  yeux  ses  "  protecteurs," 
mais  il  ne  les  vit  pas ;  il  les  appela  doucement,  mais 
aucune  reponse  ne  vint.  Alors  il  se  leva,  alia  vite 
hors  de  la  grange  et  appela  plus  fort.  Personne  ne 
lui  repondit,  il  ne  vit  personne,  il  se  trouvait  seul 
dans  un  champ  desert.  II  se  secoua  pour  faire 
tomber  les  brins  de  ses  cheveux  et  de  ses  vetements. 
II  alia  a  une  fontaine  qui  se  trouvait  pres  de  1&  pour 
se  laver.  En  otant  ses  vetements,  il  trouva  sa 
jaquette  bien  l^gere ;  il  plongea  la  main  dans  la 
poche — elle  etait  vide.  Alors,  enfin,  Pierre  comprit 
que  ses  deux  protecteurs  etaient  des  voleurs. 

32.  A.  ne  .  .  .  nullement ;  chercher  a  ;  grand'- 
chance  (cp.  the  kindred  words  in  No.  30) ;  comment 
attendre  (cp.  similar  elliptical  expressions  in  No.  31) ; 
il  fallait  que  with  subjunctive  (the  previous  instances 
of  falloir  might  be  collected) ;  tomber  &  terre  (cp. 
parterre);  elle  tiendrait  (he  said  to  himself:  elle 


Second  Book:  Nos.  32-35  107 

tiendra) ;  cousues,  decouvertes  (agreement  of  par- 
ticiple). 
B.  tater. 

33.  A.  a  une  cinquantaine  (cp.  douzaine)  de  pas ; 
qu'il  avait  prise  ;  prendre  dans ;  a  pen  de  distance  ; 
tout  en  dinant ;  regarder  jouer  ;  ombragee  d'arbres ; 
penser  a;    jouer  aux  billes  (cp.   jouer  aux  cartes, 
No.  28) ;  des  plus  animees  (other  examples  may  be 
given) ;    aimer  a ;    nouveau-venu  (obs.  formation)  ; 
ouvrir  de  grands  yeux  (cp.  No.   26) ;  la  soupe  aux 
clioux   (cp.    cafe   au   lait) ;    sentir  bon   (cp.    sentir 
mauvais,  No.  28);    afin  que  wjth  subjunctive;  ses 
pauvres  sous  (place  of  adjective,  cp.  No.  17). 

B.  btfte,  s'attrouper,  honnete. 

34.  A.  par  le  soleil  (par  le  beau  temps) ;    chose 
arriv6e  (no  article) ;    fmissaient  par   brouiller   (cp. 
Nos.  16,  23) ;  faire  oublier  a  son  oncle  la  faute;    il 
n'y  a  pas  de  sa  faute ;  le  vague  (adjective  used  as 
substantive). 

B.  brouiller,  vagwe. 

G.  continuer,  fatiguer  (not  with  English  stress). 

35.  A.  qu'il  ne  porta ;   ne  :  .  .  nullement ;    gar- 
connetf    (cp.  blondin^e  and  chambr^6  in  No.   18, 
and    dinette    in    No.    30) ;    une   belle   ferme   basse 
(place    of    adjectives) ;    la   maman    (obs.    article) ; 
toute  blanche    (pupils    might   collect    previous   ex- 
amples of  adverbial  tout) ;   de   force ;   revint  a  lui 
(reflexive) ;    il  ouvrit  de  grands  yeux  (cp.  No.  26) ; 
profondement  (formation  of  adverb) ;   comme  aurait 


io8  Running  Commentary 

fait  ta  maman  (order  of  words) ;  prends-moi  cette 
soupe  ('  ethic '  dative ;  '  let  me  see  you  eat  this 
soup')  quand  ii  eut  fini  (2nd  parfait  passe,  cp. 
No.  7) ;  je  ne  sais  plus  comment  faire ;  la  Pichonne 
(cp.  bon,  bonne) ;  nous  aurons  mis  (future  perfect) ; 
il  fut  bien  aise  (substantive  used  as  adjective) ; 
lorsque  venait  le  soir  (order  of  words) ;  il  avait  failli 
mourir  (cp.  No.  21). 

B.  danser,    atteindre,    a^partenir,    boug^a    (cp. 
mangea). 

C.  in  trod  wire  (cp.   lui),  amasser  (second  a  as  in 
pas). 

Words  for  Dictation  (Nos.  32-35). 

Se  de*sesperer,  e*tudier,  la  volonte,  epuiser,  la  soiree, 
Paffaire,  ordinaire,  regretter,  a  meme,  la  b6te,  extra- 
ordinaire, honnete,  la  fermiere,  peut-etre,  la  priere, 
le  clair  de  lune,  le  dernier,  la  ferveur,  chauffer,  le 
saut  de  mouton,  la  cause,  la  peViode,  le  repos,  la  meule, 
Todeur,  se  fortifier,  enfiler,  pourtant,  Intelligence, 
danser,  la  dent,  le  lendemain,  afin  que,  la  surete,  le 
besoin,  atteindre,  t£ter,  sftrement,  plut6t,  le  front, 
tocher,  une  cinquantaine,  soigner,  la  passion,  la  prison, 
le  gar9onnet,  la  force,  vague,  bouger,  1'action,  la  con- 
naissance,  le  crime,  la  conduite,  heroique,  le  guide, 
le  but,  brouiller,  surveiller. 

Passages  for  Dictation. 

Le  parti  de  Pierre.  D'abord  Pierre  eut  bien  peur. 
II  ne  pouvait  pas  retourner  a  St-Nazaire;  il  ne 
pouvait  pas  non  plus  e*crire  a  son  oncle,  car  il  ne 
connaissait  pas  meme  son  adresse.  II  prit  done  le 


Second  Book:  Revision  (32-35)       109 

parti  de  se  rendre  &  Paris,  sans  argent,  a  pied. 
Heureusement  il  trouva  dans  son  paquet  un  morceau 
de  pain,  et  quoique  celui-ci  fut  un  peu  sec,  il  le 
mangea  de  bon  appetit  en  buvant  de  Teau  dans  le 
ruisseau  qui  etait  &  peu  de  distance.  Alors  il  se  mit 
en  route  en  remontant  le  courant  de  la  Loire.  II 
alia  pendant  trois  bonnes  heures  sans  s'arre'ter;  le 
soleil  chauffait  bien,  et  la  faim  se  faisait  sentir. 
Pierre  s'installa  a  Pombre  d'un  arbre  et,  bient6t,  il 
s'endormit.  Lorsqu'il  se  re'veilla,  il  avait  encore 
bien  plus  faim.  Tout  a  coup  il  se  rappela  les  pieces 
blanches  de  Madame  Dubois.  II  t&ta  bien  sa  jaquette, 
elles  y  e'taient  encore.  II  d^cousit  la  jaquette  et  fit 
glisser  une  des  pieces  hors  de  la  doublure.  Alors, 
avec  une  aiguille  de  sa  maman  qu'il  avait  dans  son 
paquet,  il  fit  quelques  points  pour  tenir  les  autres  en 
place.  Puii  il  se  dirigea  vers  un  village  a  peu  de 
distance,  il  acheta  un  pain,  s'assit  sur  une  grande 
pierre  et  mangea  son  pain  de  bon  appetit. 

Dans  le  village.  Tout  en  mangeant  son  pain  Pierre 
regardait  jouer  des  gar9ons  du  village.  Bientdt  il 
fourra  le  reste  de  son  pain  dans  son  paquet  et  alia 
jouer  avec  les  ga^ons.  Pierre  savait  tres  bien  jouer 
aux  billes ;  c'est  pourquoi  tout  le  monde  voulut  6tre 
de  son  cote'.  Alors  Pierre  organisa  une  partie  de 
saut  de  mouton.  D'autres  enfants  e'taient  venus; 
tous  s'attroupaient  autour  du  nouveau-venu.  Tout  a. 
coup  on  rappela  les  enfants  qui  rentr&rent  pour 
souper.  Un  des  gar9ons,  pourtant,  resta  et  demand  a 
a.  Pierre  ou  il  prendrait  sa  soupe,  ou  il  coucherait  et 
ou  il  irait.  En  entendant  les  r^ponses  de  Pierre,  la 
pitie"  s^veilla  dans  son  coeur.  Sans  rien  dire,  il  alia 


no  Running  Commentary 

vite  raconter  a  sa  mere  que  le  petit  ga^ori  qui  jouait 
si  bien,  ne  savait  pas  ou  il  coucherait,  qu'on  lui  avait 
vole*  son  argent  et  qu'il  irait  a  Paris ;  il  demanda  &  sa 
mere  la  permission  d'amener  le  gar£on.  La  mere  fut 
touche'e  et  le  permit.  Pendant  ce  temps,  Pierre 
s'dtait  mis  en  route  assez  tristement.  II  n'avait  pas 
fait  vingt  pas  que  Penfant  le  rattrapa  eb  le  mena  dans 
la  ferme. 

Dans  la  ferme.  Pierre  entra  dans  la  ferme  om- 
brage"e  de  grands  arbres.  Dans  la  grande  cuisine  il 
trouva  beaucoup  de  monde  autour  d'une  grande  table. 
On  lui  fit  une  place  entre  les  deux  enfants  aine*s,  et 
il  mangea  de  tres  bon  appetit  la  soupe  qui  sentait 
bon.  C'6tait  une  soupe  aux  choux,  ou  il  y  avait  tant 
de  pain  que  la  cuiller  y  tenait  debout.  Apres  le 
souper  on  demanda  qu'il  racontat  son  histoire,  et  il 
avait  Fair  si  honnete  et  si  naif  qu'on  le  crut  sur 
parole.  On  Tinvita  a  rester  pendant  la  nuit,  et 
Pierre  fut  bien  heureux.  Avant  d'aller  se  coucher, 
les  enfants  jouerent  encore  aux  billes ;  on  lui  fit  une 
place  dans  le  grand  lit  du  fils  aine,  ou  Pierre  dormit 
tres  bien.  Le  lendemain  la  fermiere  fourra  un  pen 
de  viande  dans  le  paquet  de  Pierre,  et  plein  de  re- 
connaissance, Pierre  dit  adieu  aux  braves  gens  et 
continua  sa  route. 

Le  voyage.  Pendant  plusieurs  seniaines  Pierre  alia 
a  pied.  C'etait  assez  agr&able  par  les  beaux  jours. 
II  se  reposait  a  Pombre  des  arbres  et  couchait  dans 
une  etable  abandonn^e,  quelquefois  aussi  il  couchait 
en  plein  air.  Mais  par  la  pluie  il  fallait  s'arreter 
dans  une  auberge  de  village,  et  alors  les  pauvres 
sous  diminuaient,  diminuaient  toujours.  L'enfant  vit 


Second  Book:  Revision  (32-35)       in 

venir  le  temps  ou  il  faudrait  peut-etre  mendier  le 
long  de  la  route.  Et,  a  cette  pens^e,  le  rouge  lui 
montait  au  front ;  il  avait  peur  de  se  montrer  dans 
les  villes  et  les  grands  villages.  II  ne  s'arretait  guere 
que  dans  les  petits  villages.  La  faim  et  la  fatigue  finis- 
saient  par  brouiller  les  idees  du  pauvre  enfant.  II 
e*tait  si  las  ...  si  las.  Dans  un  pre*  il  vit  des  meules 
de  foin.  Avec  beaucoup  de  peine  il  en  atteignit 
une  et  tomba  sur  le  foin,  comme  mort,  sans  connais- 
sance. 

Chez  Pichon.  Le  pre  ou.  Pierre  4tait  tombe  sur  le 
foin,  appartenait  a  un  gros  fermier  qui  s'appelait 
Pichon.  Celui-ci  surveillait  son  monde  et  vint  a 
passer  aupres  de  la  meule  qui  avait  fort  bien  accueilli 
le  pauvre  petit  voyageur.  En  le  voyant,  il  lui  dit  de 
s'en  aller  tout  de  suite.  Mais  le  gar$on  ne  bougea 
pas.  Alors  Pichon  vit  qu'il  6tait  tres  pale ;  il  lui 
rappela  son  atne,  le  petit  Jean,  qui,  six  mois  aupara- 
vant,  e"tait  mort.  II  souleva  Pierre  avec  beaucoup 
de  soin  et  le  porta  a  sa  femnre.  Celle-ci  concha 
Fenfant  dans  le  lit  du  petit  Jean ;  elle  lui  ouvrit  de 
force  les  dents  serrees  et  lui  introduisit  un  peu  de 
vin.  Bient6t  Pierre  revint  a  lui  et  ouvrit  de  grands 
yeux  en  voyant  la  fermiere  et  ses  enfants  autour  de 
son  lit.  On  lui  donna  de  la  soupe,  et  Pierre  se  sentit 
fortifie'.  II  raconta  son  histoire  et,  une  fois  de  plus, 
on  le  crut  sur  parole.  Pierre  dit  a  Pichon  qu'il 
voudrait  travailler  chez  lui,  et  Pichon  ne  refusa  pas. 
Pendant  quelques  mois,  Pierre  travailla  dans  les 
champs,  et  tout  le  monde  fut  content  de  lui.  Apres 
avoir  amasse  une  petite  somme,  il  prit  le  parti  d'aller 
rejoindre  son  oncle  a  Paris. 


ii2  Running  Commentary 

37.  A.    lustre  (chandelier  is  a  kitchen    candle- 
stick; bougie,  one  for  the  bedroom);   quoiqu'il  fit 
(No.  14^4);   il  fait  jour;   6tres  (infinitive  used  as 
substantive ;    cp.   diner,  souper,  etc.) ;    heureux  de 
leurs  costumes ;    fillette  (cp.  ga^onnet  in  No.  35) ; 
jouer  a  des  jeux  (cp.  Nos.  28,  33) ;  d'ici  a  dix  minutes; 
ne  demander  pas  mieux  que  (etre  bien  content  de) ; 
fut  abandonne  (2nd  parfait  passe) ;  que  je  te  bande  les 
yeux  (the  pupils  might  collect  previous  examples). 

B.  musi^we,  f^ter,  quelques-uns,  tA6,  abandcwner, 
colin-maillard. 

G.  novembre,  anniversaire,  costume,  maternel, 
amuser,  demander,  disposer  (not  with  English  stress). 

38.  A.  il  faut  que  je  le  voie  (No.  14);  avoir  tort 
(cp.  avoir  raison  in  No.  20);  de  force  (occurred  in 
No.    35);    en   courant   (gerund);   il   avait  peine  a 
retenir  (cp.  c'est  a  peine  s'il  .  .  .) ;  un  petit  homme 
(so  the  neighbours  called  him,  No.  16;  the  doctor, 
No.   19;   and  his  mother,  No.  20);  que  me  (dat.) 
veux-tu  ? ;  sans  parole  (no  article) ;  se  tenir  debout 
(6tre  assis,  couche) ;  le  coaur  lui  battait ;  longuement 
(formation  of  adverb);  j'ai  re9u  de  ses  nouvelles ; 
pendant   ces   anne'es  (cp.   ans) ;   travailler   dur  (cp. 
sonner  creux,  No.  17 ;  sentir  mauvais,  No.  28 ;  and 
parler  haut,  chanter  faux,  tomber  dru,  tenir  ferme, 
etc.) ;  j'arriverai  a  payer ;  cela  se  fera  (cp.  cela  ne  se 
dit  pas) ;  j'ai  gagne*  de  quoi  faire  le  voyage. 

B.  longwement,  pardo/wer. 

39.  A.  va !    (cp.    allez !    No.    38) ;    y   reussir  (je 
reussis  a  faire  cela);  so^m^me  (reflexive);  prendre 


Second  Book:  Nos.  37-41  113 

fin ;  arrivee  (cp.  entree) ;  on  vous  demande  (cp.  on 
frappe) ;  non  sans  fermete  (cp.  non  sans  impatience, 
No.  38) ;  tremblante  (the  participle  is  variable  here) ; 
eut  eu  (past  perfect  subjunctive) ;  lui  avait  peur  (lui, 
emphatic  pronoun) ;  elle  ne  veut  pas  de  son  neveu  ; 
en  voila  assez ;  parmi  (not  =  entre) ;  aller  a  (cela  lui 
va  tres  bien) ;  se  mordit  les  levres ;  effraye  de  (cp. 
content  de,  heureux  de) ;  le  dialogue ;  lisait  et  se 
leva  (tenses) ;  de  quoi  il  s'agissait ;  se  remettre  a 
faire  une  chose. 

B.  vi?ain,  demande,  la^wais,  embrasser. 

C.  arrivee,  re"  server,  embrasser  (not  with  English 
stress) ;  influencer  (u  as  in  lui). 

40.  A.  lui  irait  fort  bien  (cp.  aller  a  in  No.  39,  of 
a  suit  of  clothes) ;  je  suis  content  que  tu  sois ;  il  fit 
le  loup  (cp.  faire  le  mort,  No.  8 ;  faire  le  brave, 
No.  26) ;  en  passant  (gerund) ;  le  groupe ;  plus  jeune 
de  dix  mois ;  bien  des  choses  ;  Tecole  primaire  (cp. 
First  French   Book,   No.    58) ;    il   fallait    le    faire ; 
nouvel ;  afin  de  (cp.  afin  que,  No.  33). 

B.  naivement  (cp.  naif,  No.  28) ;   irr^guli^rement, 
fl^ner. 

41.  A.  que  je   meure ;    deux    semaines    (quinze 
jours,   une   quinzaine) ;    on   est   ensemble ;   il   faut 
bien    (cp.   ou  bien,  No.   35)  ;  sa  dr61e   de   xangue 
(cp.   une   drdle   de  moue,    No.   19);    avant  qu'elle 
allat  (cp.  No.  14  A) ;  il  est  moins  que  je  ne  Taurais 
cru ;  tout  honteux ;  que  je  pourrai  (ecrire) ;  cela  se 
fait  (cp.  No.  38). 

B.  proems,  boutofwer. 

H 


ii4  Running  Commentary 

42.  A.  avoir  honte ;  soigneusement ;  il  craignifc 
que  sa  tante  ne  le  grondat  (No.  14  A) ;  aille ;  qu'on 
ne  1'aimat  pas. 

B.  raisofinable  ;  essay er  (j'essaie). 

Words  for  Dictation  (Nos.  37-42). 

LJe*clat,  la  livree,  h&iiter,  r^ussir,  Tarrivee,  reserver, 
la  charite1,  meriter,  s'ecrier,  ge"neralement,  la  tristesse, 
1'anniversaire,  un  etre,  la  fillette,  maternel,  Peffort,  le 
buffet,  essuyer,  saisir,  la  profession,  la  nouvelle,  la 
fermete,  adresser,  Pappel,  parfait,  espe*rer,  affectueux, 
le  chef,  raisonnable,  le  proces,  la  preuve,  ailleurs,  le 
danseur,  le  professeur,  la  feuille,  autant,  monotone, 
la  faveur,  reposer,  bruyant,  la  bande,  mentir,  men- 
dier,  la  souffrance,  enfermer,  se  cramponner,  la 
demande,  influencer,  embrasser,  irregulierement, 
gourmand,  avant  que,  ennuyeux,  le  gant,  la  manche, 
s'empecher,  tandis  que,  feter,  1'impatience,  le  marin, 
1'entrain,  afin  de,  ingrat,  inventer,  lacher,  flaner,  sur, 
le  lustre,  la  betise,  la  naissance,  bailler,  assourdir, 
pei^ant,  s'avancer,  le  concierge,  ceder,  froisser,  la 
presentation,  la  valse,  silencieux,  Taffection,  au  sujet 
de,  le  dialogue,  la  gorge,  le  journal,  la  langue,  la 
musique,  quelqu'un,  ridicule,  la  colere,  recueillir, 
reconnaissant,  les  haillons,  guerir,  attrister,  renvoyer. 

Passages  for  Dictation. 

Pierre  va  a  Paris.  Au  commencement  du  mois  de 
novembre  Pierre  dit  adieu  &  la  bonne  famille  Pichon. 
Cela  lui  coutait  bien  de  se  separer  de  ces  braves  gens 
qui  1'avaient  si  bien  re9u ;  mais  il  voulut  accomplir 


Second  Book:  Revision  (37-42)        115 

le  de'sir  de  sa  mere  mourante  et  aller  a  la  recherche 
de  son  oncle.  Pichon  1'accompagna  a  la  station,  il 
prib  pour  ltd  un  billet  de  troisieme  classe  et  I'installa 
dans  le  wagon.  Pierre  remercia  le  brave  Pichon,  et 
lorsque  le  train  se  mit  en  mouvement,  Pierre,  par  la 
glace  ouverbe,  agita  son  mouchoir  aussi  longtemps 
qu'il  put  voir  Pichon.  Cette  fois  Pierre  arriva 
heureusement  a  Paris.  Comme  le  docbeur  lui  avaifc 
recominande",  il  entra  dans  un  cafe  et  demanda  le 
Bottin.  Avec  quelque  peine  il  y  trouva  Tadresse  de 
son  oncle,  se  fit  montrer  le  quartier  et  la  rue  ou 
celui-ci  demeurait  et  trouva  bient6t  le  numero  de  la 
maison.  En  voyant  la  belle  maison,  Pierre  eut  un 
peu  peur ;  mais  il  pensa  a  son  pere  et  a  sa  mere,  il 
prit  courage  et  tira  la  sonnette.  La  porbe  s'ouvrit  et 
Pierre  entra. 

Uaccueil  dans  la  maison  de  son  oncle.  Le  concierge 
qui  avait  ouvert  la  porte  fut  bien  etonne  de  voir 
entrer  un  petit  gar^on  mal  vetu.  Mais  1'oeil  de 
Penfant  e"taib  si  suppliant  qu'il  lui  permit  de  monter 
1'escalier.  Sur  le  palier  du  premier,  Pierre  vit 
plusieurs  laquais  en  livree.  Lorsque  ceux-ci  en- 
tendirent  que  le  pauvre  gar9on  de'sirait  parler  a  leur 
patron,  ils  se  moquerent  de  lui  en  lui  disant  que  M. 
Delsart  ne  recevait  pas  de  vagabonds  dans  sa  maison. 
Malgre  les  prieres  de  Pierre,  ils  le  firent  redescendre 
de  force.  Dans  ce  moment,  la  porte  d'une  salle 
s'ouvrib,  et  M.  Delsart  parut.  II  demanda  la  cause 
du  bruifc,  et  un  domestique  alia  la  lui  dire.  Le 
silence  qui  avait  suivi  le  bruit,  etonna  Pierre.  II 
se  retourna,  il  vit  un  monsieur  4  1'approche  duquel 
les  laquais  se  leverent,  il  remonta  vite,  et  allant 


n6  Running  Commentary 

devant  le  nouveau-venu,  il  lui  dit  d'une  voix  sup- 
pliante :  '  Monsieur,  je  suis  venu  ici  pour  voir  Mon- 
sieur Delsart  et  on  me  jette  a  la  porte.'  Le  monsieur 
le  calma.  II  lui  dit  qu'il  etait  M.  Delsart  et  lui 
demanda  ce  qu'il  lui  voulait,  Au  premier  moment 
Pierre  resta  sans  paroles,  mais  alors  il  dit  courageuse- 
ment :  '  Monsieur,  je  voudrais  vous  parler  seul.' 
L'avocat  le  fit  passer  dans  son  bureau. 

Avec  son  oncle.  M.  Delsart  s'assit  a  une  table 
chargee  de  papiers.  Pierre  se  tenait  debout  devant 
lui.  II  dit  que  son  pere  avait  etc*  le  frere  de  1'avocat, 
qu'il  6tait  mort  depuis  cinq  ans,  que  sa  mere  mou- 
rante  avait  racont6  Fhistoire  de  son  pere  au  docteur 
Dubois  qui  lui  avait  donne*  ses  derniers  soins  et 
qu'apres  la  mort  de  sa  mere,  le  docteur  lui  avait  raconte" 
cette  histoire.  '  Je  sais  maintenant,'  continua  Pierre, 
'  pourquoi  mon  papa  e*tait  si  triste  et  si  malheureux ; 
il  avait  la  seule  idee  de  racheter  sa  faute  et  il  ne  put 
1'accomplir.  Ma  mere  m'a  charge*  de  cela.  Je  suis 
venu  de  St-Nazaire,  on  m'a  vole  mon  argent;  alors 
j'ai  voyage  a  pied,  ne  mangeant  que  du  pain.  Et 
lorsque  je  suis  tombe  mourant,  de  braves  gens  m'ont 
accueilli ;  j'ai  gagne*  de  1'argent  et  j'ai  fait  le  reste  du 
voyage  en  chemin  de  fer.'  M.  Delsart  etait  touche* 
et  dit  a  son  neveu  :  *  Vois-tu,  mon  enfant,  j'ai  dit  un 
mot  en  colere  a  ton  pere.  Depuis  ce  tenips-la  j'ai 
cherche'  la  trace  de  ton  pere  sans  la  trouver.  Cela  a 
fait  beaucoup  de  peine  a  ton  pere  et  a  moi.  Toi  aussi, 
tu  en  souffrais.  Mais  tes  souffrances  vont  prendre  fin. 
Avant  ton  arrive' e  je  n'avais  qu'un  fils,  j'en  ai  deux 
maintenant.' 

La  presentation.    Le  jour  ou  Pierre  arriva  a  Paris, 


Second  Book:  Revision  (37-42)       117 

justement  le  jour,  oh  le  fils  de  M.  Delsart, 
Maurice  Delsart,  avait  son  dixi&me  anniversaire. 
On  le  fetait  par  une  matine'e  costume"e.  Beaucoup 
d'enfants  etaient  invites  a  cette  f6te  pour  s'amuser 
avec  leur  ami  Maurice  qu'ils  aimaient,  parce  qu'il 
e"tait  bon  pour  tous  ses  camarades.  M.  Delsart  ne 
voulut  pas  introduire  son  neveu  avec  les  habits  qu'il 
portait  en  arrivant.  II  alia  done  dans  la  chambre  de 
Miss  Nancy,  1'Anglaise,  qui  ^levait  le  petit  Maurice, 
et  la  pria  de  laver  notre  petit  voyageur  et  de  lui 
chercher,  parmi  les  vetements  de  Maurice,  quelque 
chose  qui  pourrait  lui  aller.  II  s'y  trouva,  en  effet, 
un  costume  de  marin,  qui,  quoique  bien  juste,  allait 
bien  a  Pierre.  Celui-ci  se  regarda  dans  la  glace  et  ne 
se  reconnut  pas.  Alors  son  oncle  amena  Pierre 
au  milieu  des  enfants  et  le  pr^senta  comme  cousin  de 
Maurice.  Maurice  le  regarda  avec  un  grand  se'rieux 
et  lui  serra  bien  cordialement  la  main.  Tous  les 
petits  regard&rent  curieusement  le  nouveau-venu  qui 
se  trouva  bient6t  comme  dans  un  paradis. 

La  matinde  costumfo.  Au  commencement  les  enfants 
avaient  e'te  bien  heureux  de  leurs  jolis  costumes,  mais 
ils  n'avaient  guere  e'te  a  leur  aise ;  la  presence  des 
m6res  qui  Etaient  assises  le  long  des  murs,  les  g^nait, 
et  ils  auraient  prefere*  jouer  a  des  jeux  bruyants. 
M.  Delsart  s'en  ape^ut.  C'est  pourquoi  il  invita  les 
dames  a  prendre  une  tasse  de  the  dans  la  salle  a  c6t6. 
Tout  de  suite  les  enfants  j  ou&rent  au  colin-maillard 
avec  autant  de  passion  que  s'ils  avaient  porte*  leurs 
vetements  de  tous  les  jours.  Ce  jeu  fut  interrompu  par 
Tarrive'e  de  Pierre,  mais  bientdt  repris  avec  le  m6me 
entrain.  Pierre  s'amusait  beaucoup.  Tout  le  monde 


n8  Running  Commentary 

voulaifc  6tre  de  son  cdte*  comme  dans  le  village  oh  il 
avait  joue  aux  billes.  Apres  le  jeu  vint  le  gouter. 
Tous,  grands  et  petits,  firent  honneur  aux  bonnes 
choses  qui  couvraient  la  table.  Tout  ce  petit  monde 
riait,  bavardait,  s'amusait  de  tout  et  de  rien.  Pierre 
etait  tres  heureux. 

La  tante.  Madame  Delsart,  la  f emme  de  Tavocat, 
avait  surpris  son  mari  dans  le  moment  ou  il  avait 
dit  a  Pierre  que  ses  souffrances  prendraient  fin  ;  elle 
avait  appele  Pierre  un  vagabond  ;  elle  avait  dit  a 
son  mari  qu'il  e'tait  fou  de  regarder  Pierre  comme  son 
second  fils ;  elle  avait,  pendant  la  matinee  costume*e, 
dit  a  quelques  dames  qui  s'informaient  du  nouveau- 
venu :  "  Ce  n'est  qu'un  orphelin  que  mon  mari  a 
recueilli  par  charite."  Par  tout  cela  elle  avait  montre 
qu'elle  n'aimait  pas  Pierre.  Celui-ci  e'tait  assez 
raisonnable  pour  comprendre  que  la  femme  de  son 
oncle  n'avait  aucune  raison  de  Taccueillir  comme 
1'avait  fait  son  oncle  Iui-m6rne.  C'est  pourquoi  il 
essavait  de  gagner  Taffection  de  sa  tante.  Mais 
e'etait  tres  difficile.  Quelquefois,  le  soir,  Madame 
Delsart  jouait  avec  Maurice,  mais  jamais  avec  lui. 
Lorsque,  1'apres-midi,  elle  emmenait  son  fils  dans  la 
voiture,  elle  laissait  gen6ralement  Pierre  a  la  maison ; 
cela  la  froissait  aussi  que  son  fils  Maurice  parlat 
tou jours  de  Pierre.  Et  malgr6  cela  Pierre  esperait 
gagner  Famour  de  sa  tante. 

43.  A.  changer  de ;  le  caractere ;  rase  (the  pupils 
might  collect  other  instances  of  substantives  used  as 
adjectives) ;  le  cercle ;  il  ne  tenait  plus  a  jouer  (je  n'y 
tiens  pas) ;  prit  (No.  14  A)\  ne  .  .  .  nulle  part  (cp. 


Second  Book:  Nos.  43-46  119 

ne  .   .   .  nullement,  No.  32) ;   propres  (making  ses 
emphatic) ;  les  choses  qu'il  avait  vues ;  forcer  a  faire 
quelque  chose ;  travailler  a  deux. 
B.  caractere,  Paques,  forfait. 

44.  A.  par  une  belle  matinee  (cp.  No.  26) ;  station 
(smaller  than  gare) ;  la  f erme  Pichon  (cp.  la  maison 
Hachette,  1'affaire  Galas) ;  kilometre  (8  kilometres  = 
5  English  miles;    a  yard  is  a  little  over  91  centi- 
metres) ;   robe  de  dimanche  (cp.  blouse  du  matin, 
No.  37) ;  une  porte  en  bois ;  dernier-n6  (for  forma- 
tion cp.  nouveau-venu,  No.  33) ;  ce  fut  le  tour  des 
petits  (e'est  mon  tour) ;  il  se  fit  a  tout ;  faire  compli- 
ment de ;  il  avait  ete  f  ermier  (no  article) ;  moins  que 
tu  ne  1'esperais  (cp.  No.  41) ;  plus  age"  que  tu  ne  Tes  • 
(tout)  de  suite. 

B.  Mtiment,  quantf  a. 

C.  aspect  (ct  mute,  cp.  respect,  No.  23). 

45.  A.  tomber  en  sommeil ;    donner  mal ;    tout 
seuls ;  auxquels  .  .  .  aider ;  aussi  restaient-ils  (order 
of  words) ;   s'interesser  a ;   jaune   clair   (invariable, 
cp.  des  yeux  bleu  clair,  des  cheveux  chatain  fonc6) ; 
rouges  de  TeiFort  (cp.  rouge  de  ses  efforts,  No.  37) ; 
se  fortifiaient  a  vue  d'ceil  (cp.  No.  36,  end) ;  qu'on 
put  vivre  (No.  14  A);  plus  de  trois  semaines  (plus 
followed  by  de  in  the  sense  of  '  upwards  of '). 

B.  recommendation,  pensiowiaire,  depart,  ^l^gant, 
remarg'wer. 

C.  muscle  (c  is  pronounced). 

46.  A.  ne  .  .  .  ni  .  .  .  ni ;  le  charme ;  le  sable ;  des 


120  Running  Commentary 

petits   enfants   (des    now   commonly   found  before 
petit[e]s)  ;  Pierre  en  e"tait  le  ge*n6ral  (as  on  previous 
occasions). 
B.  Miller, 


47.  A.  il  y  fait  tres  bon;  fe*e  (our  'fay7;  '  fairy' 
is  really  feerie)  ;  sans  que  Pierre  vit. 
B.  r^signer. 

Words  for  Dictation  (Nos.  43-47). 
D6crire,  la  clarte,  la  gaiete,  le  fermier,  la  proprete', 
la  couvee,  le  deplaisir,  la  sant^,  le  dernier-ne,  le 
depart,  la  liberte,  elegant,  la  mare"  e,  eclater,  la  detresse, 
le  rocher,  se  resigner,  la  fee,  la  maladresse,  le  kilo- 
metre, flairer,  traire,  &  peine,  examiner,  engraisser, 
la  dentelle,  vrai,  le  desespoir,  le  taureau,  la  couleur, 
Tembarras,  le  sentiment,  le  ventre,  le  compliment, 
le  Parisien,  le  bain,  Tinstant,  Piques,  le  cercle, 
becher,  le  pensionnaire,  le  batiment,  la  medecine^ 
forcer,  capricieux,  se  decider,  Tadmiration,  la  mesure, 
la  confiance,  allonger,  le  changement,  agiter,  le 
naufrage,  arrangement,  le  muscle,  la  remarque. 

Passages  for  Dictation. 

Maurice  Delsart.  Maurice  dtait  plus  jeune  que 
Pierre  de  dix  mois.  II  avait  de'ja  appris  bien  des 
choses  que  Pierre  ne  savait  pas,  car  a  cause  de  la 
maladie  de  sa  mam  an,  celui-ci  n^tait  all^  qu'assez 
irr^gulierement  &  1'ecole  primaire.  II  prenait  les 
Ie9ons  d'un  jeune  professeur  et  lisait  de  Tanglais 
avec  Miss  Nancy,  mais  il  aurait  mieux  aime*  jouer 
qu'apprendre.  Pierre  prenait  les  Ie9ons  avec  lui,  et 


Second  Book:  Revision  (43-47)       121 

le  prof esseur  e*tait  content  de  son  nouvel  eleve.  Vers 
la  fin  de  1'hiver,  Maurice  tomba  malade.  Le  me'decm 
disait  qu'il  avait  trop  grand i.  Maurice  ne  travaillait 
plus  et  ne  tenait  plus  a  jouer.  Sa  mere  le  soignait  de 
son  mieux,  et  Pierre  devait  lui  raconter  ce  qu'il  avait 
vu  dans  son  voyage.  Ce  qui  amusait  Maurice,  c'e'tait 
ce  qui  se  faisait  a  la  ferme  Pichon.  C'est  pourquoi 
M.  Delsart  ecrivit  a  Pichon  de  faire  une  place 
a  Pierre  et  Maurice  pour  les  vacances  de  Paques. 
Lorsqu'on  dit  cela  a  Maurice,  celui-ci  fut  transporte 
de  joie. 

Chez  Pichon.  Par  une  belle  matine'e  d'avril  M. 
Delsart,  Maurice  et  Pierre  descendirent  a  la  station 
d'Amboise.  La  on  prit  une  voiture  pour  aller  a  la 
ferme  Pichon.  M.  Delsart  fut  tres  content  de  la 
ferme  et  de  ses  habitants.  Et  ceux-ci  e'taient  aussi 
heureux  de  revoir  le  petit  Pierre,  qui,  pendant  ce 
temps,  4tait  presque  devenu  un  petit  monsieur.  M. 
Delsart  recommandait  a  Pierre  d'agir  en  homme,  de 
veiller  sur  Maurice  et  de  lui  e'crire  de  suite  si  celui-ci 
n'e'tait  pas  heureux  a  la  ferme.  Mais  Pierre  et 
Maurice  furent  paysans  avec  passion.  Us  travail- 
laient  a  la  ferme.  Us  jetaient  les  grains  aux  volailles, 
ils  cherchaient  les  ceufs  frais  et  les  apportaient  a  la 
Pichonne,  ils  soignaient  specialement  une  vache  qui 
leur  e*tait  confine,  ils  la  trayaient,  ils  cultivaient  leur 
jardin,  bechaient,  plantaient,  arrachaient  les  mau- 
vaises  herbes,  et  tous  les  deux  se  fortifiaient  a  vae 
d'ceil.  Mais  bient6t  les  vacances  furent  passees, 
et  Madame  Delsart  vint  chercher  les  enfants...  En 
voyant  son  fils  fortifie,  les  yeux  brillants,  les  joues 
fermes  et  roses,  elle  fut  tres  heureuse. 


122  Running  Commentary 

48.  A.  aucune  reponse  ne  vint,  personne  no  re7- 
pondit  ;  en  (not  dans)  un  instant  ;  dans  (not  en)  dix 
minutes  ;  la  vague  (cp.  le  vague,  No.  34)  ;  il  faudrait 
(future  in  the  past,  cp.  No.  18)  ;  plus  de  dix  (cp.  No. 
45)  ;  toucher  a. 

B.  m&rque,  vague,  p^n^trer. 
0.  appui  (ui  as  in  lui). 

49.  A.  h  ce  moment  (cp.  au  mthne  moment)  ;  oser 
faire  quelque  chose;  plus  de  temps  qu'il  ne  croyait 
(other  instances  have  occurred)  ;  mettre  du  temps  a 
faire  quelque  chose  (cp.  rester  a  ne  rien  dire,  No.  18); 
fui  le'chaient  les  pieds  ;  nageur  (no  article)  ;  il  arriva 
a  courir  (cp.  No.  38);  faute  de  soins  (cp.  faute  de 
mieux)  ;  chose  facile  (no  article)  ;  se  mourir  ;  hors  de 
lui   (beside   himself);   le   plus   doucement   possible 
(  =  aussi  doucement  que  possible)  ;   que  nous  nous 
installions  ;  il  souffre  (souffrant  is  the  usual  word  for 
<ill,'cp.  No.  9). 

B.  sain,  ceinture,  bar^,  grelo^er. 


50.  A.  faisait  de  son  mieux;  put  (No.  14  A);  si 
.  .  .  avait  pu  ;  il  avait  mal  a  la  tete  (un  mal  de  t£te)  ; 
il   finit  par  s'endormir   (cp.   No.    23  ;    commencer, 
finir  par  faire  quelque  chose)  ;  il  fait  nuit  ;  qu'il  s'en 
aille  ;  sans  que  ...  fit  ;  rien  de  pareil. 

51.  A.    suffisamment    (cp.    patiemment,   violem- 
ment)  ;  sa  violence  de  la  veille  ;  la  jeune  femme  le 
raconta,  elle  (added  for  emphasis)  ;  toute  changee  ; 
demi-lucidite    (cp.    demi-heure)  ;     quoique    Pierre 
divaguat. 

J5.  operation,  divat/wer,  divagation, 


Second  Book:  Nos.  48-52  123 

52.  A.  son  compagnon  de  tous  les  instants ;  on 
voulait  bien ;  finit  par  prendre  (cp.  previous  in- 
stances) ;  un  devouement  de  tous  les  instants ;  il 
craignait  que  M.  ne  fut ;  lorsque  .  .  .  et  que ;  faire 
grand  plaisir. 

B.  difference ;  orgueil. 

Words  for  Dictation  (Nos.  48-52). 

La  facilite,  le*cher,  etrange,  la  lucidite,  etranger, 
e"prouver,  fervent,  faible,  detester,  cruel,  la  lumiere, 
leger,  la  caresse,  Pexclamation,  le  chevet,  complete- 
ment,  sauf,  augmenter,  le  nageur,  la  lourdeur,  se 
meurtrir,  le  sauveur,  la  douceur,  tendrement,  le  ras- 
semblement,  suffisamment,  embarrasser,  la  presence, 
impuissant,  sain,  la  ceinture,  le  chirurgien,  la  r6solu- 
tion,  la  descente,  au-dessous,  au-dessusj  la  seconde, 
le  secours,  rassurer,  la  violence,  Pemotion,  Topera- 
tion,  la  scene,  la  constitution,  la  difference,  certes, 
1'excursion,  gemir,  Pinjustice,  le  sujet,  le  joujou, 
jaloux,  joindre,  la  marque,  manquer,  la  barque, 
Tacciderit,  immobile,  la  muraille,  Tappui,  pareil, 
divaguer,  Torgueil. 

Passages  for  Dictation. 

Sur  la  plage.  Pendant  plusieurs  mois  Maurice  se 
porta  toujours  bien.  Mais  comme  il  grandissait 
un  peu  trop  vite  pour  ses  forces,  le  me'decin  vou- 
lait Pair  de  la  mer  pour  lui.  M.  Delsart  6taib  tres 
occup^  pour  le  moment ;  c'est  pourquoi  sa  femme 
alia  avec  les  deux  gar^ons  a  la  mer.  La  vie  que  les 
enfants  menaient  la,  etait  tres  heureuse,  Apres  le 


i24  Running  Commentary 

bain  et  le  dejeuner  les  enfants  e'taient  libres  de  jouer ; 
ils  pouvaient  courir,  les  jambes  nues,  sur  le  sable. 
Un  jour,  Pierre  et  Maurice  allerent  a  la  recherche 
d'un  peu  d'ombre.  Ils  trouverent  un  bon  endroit. 
Pierre  se  jeta  a  plat  ventre,  son  livre  pose*  devant  lui, 
ses  mains  enfoncees  dans  ses  cheveux.  Apres  quelque 
temps  Pierre  entendit  quelque  chose  qui  ressemblait 
a  un  cri  de  detresse.  Pierre  crut  reconnaitre  la  voix 
de  Maurice;  il  se  leva  et  regarda  autour  de  lui. 
Maurice  avait  disparu.  Pierre  monta  vite  les  rochers, 
et  de  la  il  vit  son  cousin,  en  bas,  sur  le  sable.  Pierre 
1'appela,  mais  aucune  reponse  ne  vint.  La  marque 
que  la  derniere  vague  avait  laissee,  touchait  presque 
a  Tendroit  ou  Maurice  etait  tombe.  Dans  dix  mi- 
nutes 1'enfant  serait  pris  tout  doucement  par  la  mare*e 
et  roule,  envoye  a  la  grande  mer.  Pierre  n'avait 
plus  le  temps  de  retourner  a  1'hdtel ;  il  ne  lui  restait 
qu'une  chose  a  faire  :  descendre  aupres  de  son  cousin 
et  le  porter  hors  de  1'eau. 

La  descente.  Pierre  fit  une  courte  priere,  puis  il 
commen9a  la  descente.  D'abord  il  trouva  facilement 
des  endroits  qui  offraient  un  appui  a  ses  pieds. 
Mais  la  chose  comme^a  a  devenir  difficile,  et  a  une 
hauteur  assez  grande,  son  pied  ne  trouvait  plus 
d'appui.  Que  faire  ?  II  ne  pouvait  plus  remonter. 
En  regardant  en  bas,  il  jeta  un  grand  cri.  Deja  la 
mare"e  e'tait  arrive1  e  jusqu'&  Maurice,  deja  les  vagues 
lui  lechaient  les  pieds,  meme  les  jambes  jusqu'aux 
genoux.  II  prit  vite  son  parti :  il  s'61an9a  dans  le 
vide  et  tomba  dans  1'eau.  La  chute  avait  e'te  amortie, 
et  sain  et  sauf  Pierre  se  releva.  II  courut  prendre 
Maurice,  le  tira  hors  de  1'eau  et  le  deposa  tendrement 


Second  Book:  Revision  (48-52)        125 

sur  le  sable  sec,  a  un  endroit  ou  1'eau  ne  pouvait  pas 
arriver,  en  lui  faisant  un  lit  aussi  commode  que 
possible.  Son  cousin  s'etait  casse,  en  tombant,  le 
bras  gauche.  En  voyant  cela,  Pierre  se  mit  a 
pleurer. 

Le  sauvetage  de  Pierre.  Comment  sauver  Maurice 
qui  etait  tou jours  sans  connaissance  ?  Pierre  ne 
pouvait  le  faire  seul,  il  e'tait  trop  faible.  D'un  cote 
de  1'endroit  oil  se  trouvaient  les  gar9ons  il  y  avait  des 
rochers  qui  sortaient  &  moitie  de  1'eau.  Pierre  se  dit 
que,  tout  au  haut,  il  aurait  plus  de  chance  d'attirer 
1'attention.  II  monta  done  de  rocher  en  rocher  et 
arriva,  non  sans  peine,  au  bout  de  la  muraille.  L& 
il  agita  son  mouchoir.  Apres  quelque  temps  une 
barque  s'approcha.  Dans  celle-ci  il  y  avait  un  mon- 
sieur de  Paris  et  sa  jeune  femme  qui  logeaient  dans 
le  meme  h6tel  et  que  Pierre  connaissait.  Us  re9urent 
Pierre  dont  les  forces  s'etaient  presque  e'puisees,  dans 
leur  barque,  et  Pierre  leur  raconta  ce  qui  s'etait  passe*. 
La  barque  se  dirigea  vers  1'endroit  ou  se  trouvait 
Maurice ;  le  monsieur  porta  celui-ci  dans  la  barque, 
et  alors  on  retourna  b,  I'h6tel  ou  tout  un  rassemble- 
ment  s'etait  forme  a  cause  de  la  longue  absence  des 
deux  ga^ons.  On  alia  chercher  le  chirurgien  de 
1'endroit  et  on  envoya  une  de'peche  &  Monsieur 
Delsart.  La  de"p6che  arriva  &  temps  pour  que  le 
pere  put  prendre  le  train  du  soir  et  amener  un 
chirurgien  de  Paris. 

La  colere  de  la  tante.  Madame  Delsart  fut  ter- 
riblement  effrayee  en  voyant  son  fils  sans  vie,  sans 
connaissance  dans  son  lit.  Tout  d'un  coup  elle  vit 
Pierre  et  se  retourna  furieuse.  '  Ya-t'en,J  lui  cria-t-elle, 


126  Running  Commentary 

Vest  toi  qui  Fas  mene  au  danger;  c'est  ta  faute 
s'il  s'est  blesse;  s'il  meurt,  ce  sera  a  toi  que  je  le 
devrai.  Depuis  que  tu  es  entre  dans  ma  maison,  il 
m'aime  moins.  Tu  me  1'as  pris.  Je  te  d^teste. 
Va-t'en!'  Pierre  la  regarda,  trks'effraye ;  il  resta 
sans  paroles  et  s'en  alia  tristement  dans  la  chambre 
qu'il  partageait  avec  Maurice  depuis  I'arrive'e  k 
I'hdtel.  II  etait  tres  malheureux  parce  qu'il  n'avait 
pas  merite  la  col  ere  de  sa  tante.  II  finit  par  s'en- 
dormir  sans  quitter  la  chaise  ou  il  etait,  la  tete 
appuyee  contre  le  mur. 

L'opdration.  Lorsque  Pierre  se  reveilla,  il  faisait 
nuit.  II  entendit  du  bruit  dans  la  chambre  a  cdte 
ou  Ton  avait  transporte  Maurice.  Pierre  se  leva, 
non  sans  peine,  car  il  avait  mal  partout.  II  ouvritla 
porte,  mais  il  disparut  vite  dans  Pombre,  car  on 
faisait  sortir  sa  tante  qui  pleurait.  Son  oncle  etait 
debout  aupres  du  lit  de  Maurice;  le  m&lecin  de 
Pendroifc  et  le  chirurgien  de  Paris  pr^paraient  des 
morceaux  de  Huge.  Pierre  eut  un  mouvement  de 
joie,  car  il  entendit  Maurice  crier:  Je  veux  Pierre. 
Celui-ci  f ut  tout  de  suite  pres  de  lui,  et  les  deux 
enfants  se  tendirent  les  mains.  Le  chirurgien  de 
Paris  voulut  faire  sortir  Pierre,  mais  celui-ci  promit 
d'etre  bien  sage,  de  ne  pas  dire  un  mot  et  de  tenir 
seulement  la  main  de  Maurice,  comme  il  avait  tou- 
jours  fait  chez  le  dentiste ;  il  suppliait  si  bien  que  le 
m^decin  lui  permit  de  rester.  Tout  le  temps  qu'on 
remettait  le  bras  et  que  Maurice  souffrait  cruelle- 
ment,  Pierre  tenait  la  main  de  Maurice  et  ne  tremblait 
pas.  Mais  lorsque  le  chirurgien  dit  qu'on  pourrait 


Second  Book:  Revision  (48-52)        127 

faire  venir  Madame  Delsart,  Pierre  se  glissa  hors  de 
la  chambre. 

Deux  malades.  Apres  l'ope"ration  on  arrangea 
les  oreillers  de  Maurice,  et  bientdt  le  calme  du 
sommeil  se  vit  sur  la  petite  figure  blanche.  Le 
malade  passa  une  bonne  nuit.  Le  lendemain,  de 
bonne  heure,  la  jeune  marie*  e  frappa  a  la  porte  de 
Madame  Delsart  pour  avoir  des  nouvelles  du  blesse1. 
C'est  par  elle  que  Monsieur  et  Madame  Delsarb  surent 
que  Pierre  etait  le  sauveur  heroique  de  Maurice. 
Madame  Delsart  se  rappela  sa  colere  de  la  veille  et 
en  fut  honteuse.  On  s'elan9a  dans  la  chambre  de 
Pierre.  Quel  aspect !  Pierre,  tou jours  dans  les  vete- 
ments  qui  avaient  e'te'  mouilles  la  veille,  e*tait  sur  son 
lit,  la  tete  tourne*e  et  retourne'e  d'un  mouvement 
machinal.  II  ne  reconnut  ni  son  oncle  ni  sa  tante 
et  r^petait  sans  cesse  d'une  voix  navrante  :  "  Maman, 
maman,  ma  petite  maman  !  "  Le  medecin  disait  qu'il 
avait  la  fievre  ce're'brale.  Ce  fut  un  coup  pour 
Madame  Delsart.  Elle  se  disait :  "  S'il  meurt,  c'est 
moi  qui  Pai  tueV'  Elle  e*tait  toute  changee  et  ne 
quitta  plus  le  chevet  du  malade  pendant  longtemps. 
Lorsque,  dans  un  moment  de  demi-lucidite',  Pierre 
sentant  une  main  fraiche  et  douce  sur  son  front, 
Pappela  "  maman,"  elle  se  detourna  et  dit  en  elle- 
meme :  "  Oui,  je  te  le  promets,  je  serai  ta  maman, 
tou  jours.  Tu  verras  ! " 

Aim6 1  Quitte  /  Maurice  allait  bien  ;  Poperation 
avait  parfaitement  re"ussi;  mais  il  se  sentait  perdu 
sans  son  compagnon  de  tous  les  instants.  Avec 
Pierre  c'e'tait  autre  chose  ;  il  y  eut  des  moments  oil  la 
fievre  devint  si  terrible  que  le  me'decin  ne  repondit 


i28  Running  Commentary 

plus  de  son  malade.  Et  pourtant  il  ne  mourut  pas  ; 
sa  forte  constitution  finit  par  prendre  le  dessus. 
Lorsqu'on  sut  dans  Ph6tel  et  dans  tout  le  pays  que  le 
gar^on  etait  sauve,  il  y  eut  une  explosion  de  joie. 
Les  petits  lui  envoyaient  des  fleurs  cueillies  expres 
pour  lui.  Cela  lui  fit  plaisir.  Une  chose  le  tour- 
taentait;  il  voyait  que  sa  tante,  qui  aimait  tant 
les  bals,  les  excursions,  les  soirees,  ne  qtactait 
jamais  le  chevet  de  son  lit  et  qu'elle  e'tait  telle- 
ment  afFectueuse  pour  lui.  II  lui  semblait  qu'il  volait 
le  plaisir  de  sa  tante.  Mais  celle-ci — Pierre  le 
sentait  bien — n'etait  plus  comme  auparavant :  Elle 
racontait  des  choses  dr61es,  f aisait  rire  tout  son  monde 
et  oubliait  m6me  de  dire  '  vous 7  a  son  mari.  Une  fois 
Pierre  apprit  qu'on  devait  faire  une  grande  partie  de 
campagne  et  que  les  Delsart  refusaient  de  s'y  joindre 
pour  rester  avec  lui.  Alors  Pierre  eut  le  courage  de 
dire :  "  Ma  tante,  il  me  semble  que  je  vous  vole  votre 
plaisir."  Mais  Madame  Delsart  lui  repondit :  "  Je  ne 
suis  plus  ta  tante,  une  vilaine  tante  qui  ne  t'aimait 
pas ;  je  suis  ta  mere.  Tu  m'as  sauv6  mon  fils,  tu 
m'en  as  donne*  un  autre.  Et  faime  mes  deux  fils 
d'une  tendresse  6gale  ! "  Que  Pierre  4tait  heureux  ! 
Et  en  m^rne  temps  son  oncle  prit  la  main  de  Pierre  et 
lui  dit :  "  Quittes;  mon  fils,  nous  sommes  quittes  !  " 


A  CLASSIFIED  LIST  OF  BOOKS 

FOR  THE  TEACHING  OF  FRENCH  IN 
DENTS  MODERN  LANGUAGE  SERIES 


PRELIMINARY  YEAR:  English  Sounds,  for 
English  Boys  and  Girls.  By  WALTER  BIPP- 

MANN.      Is. 

N.B. — There  is  a  special  edition  of  English  Sounds 
for  use  in  Scotland. 

(For  the  Teacher:  The  Sounds  of  Spoken 
English  (5th  ed.),  with  Specimens  (2nd  ed.). 
By  WALTER  EIPPMANN.  2s.  net.) 

Dent's  French  Primer.  By  W.  E.  LLEWELLYN. 
Part  I.,  Phonetic  Text.  Part  II.,  Transition 
and  Conventional  Spelling.  8d.  each  Part. 

Cahier  Franqais  Illustre  pour  les  Enfants.  By 
W.  K.  CORNELL.  With  over  100  Illustrations 
by  I.  BRITTAIN.  8d. 

FIRST  YEAR :  Dent's  First  French  Book  (23rd 
ed.,  completing  225,000  copies).  By  S.  ALGE 
and  WALTER  KIPPMANN.  2s. 

Dent's  Wall  Pictures  of  the  Seasons,  55  x  36  inches. 
Unmounted,  2s.  6d.  net  each ;  mounted  on 
linen  and  eyeletted,  3s.  6d.  net  each ; 
mounted  on  linen  and  bound  at  edges,  with 
rollers,  6s.  net  each. 


130          A  Classified  List  of  Books 

French  Ward  Groups,  based  on  these  Wall 
Pictures.  By  E.  GUERRA.  Is. 

Phonetic  Section  of  the  First  French  Book  (4th 
ed.),  containing  the  early  lessons  in  phonetic 
transcription,  transition,  etc.  By  WALTER 
EIPPMANN.  6d.  net. 

French  Speech  and  Spelling  (2nd  ed.).  A  First 
Guide  to  French  Pronunciation.  By  S.  A. 
EICHARDS.  8d. 

[For  the  Teacher:  Hints  on  Teaching  French 
(5th  ed.),  with  a  running  commentary  on 
the  First  and  Second  French  Books.  By 
WALTER  EIPPMANN.  Is.  6d.  net.] 

Sound  Chart :  Les  Sons  du  Franqais,  30  x  30 
inches.  Unmounted,  Is.  net;  mounted  on 
linen,  2s.  6d.  net;  mounted  on  linen,  with 
rollers,  3s.  6d.  net.  Small  reproductions, 
with  key  words,  in  packets  of  30,  Is.  net. 

Sound  Charts,  showing  the  Tongue  and  Lip 
positions  for  the  chief  vowel  sounds.  By 
D.  JONES  and  F.  EAUSCH.  The  set  of  nine 
charts,  12s.  6d.  net. 

SECOND  YEAR:  Dent's  Second  French  Book 
(10th  ed.).  By  S.  ALGE  and  WALTER  EIPP- 
MANN. 2s. 

Short  Readers,  with  explanatory  notes  in 
French  and  reform  exercises,  at  4d.  each  : 

Perrault :  Contes  du  temps  passe'.  Vols.  I. 
and  II. 

Laboulaye  :  Yvon  et  Finette ;  Poucinet. 


A  Classified  List  of  Books          131 

La  Mule  du  Pape. 

Les  Quatorze  Saints. 

Bascan :  Ltgendes  Normandes. 

For  Acting:    Fables   en   Action.      By  VIOLET 
PARTINGTON.    Is. 

INTERMEDIATE  STAGE: 

Readers,  with  explanatory  notes  in  French 
and  reform  exercises : 

Mme  de  Pressense1:  Une  joyeuse  nich6e  (4th 
ed.).  Is.  9d. 

Mrs  Boyd:  Les  Pelerins  de  la  Tamise,  giving 
further  adventures  of  the  characters  in  the 
Second  French  Book.  Is.  6d. 

Short  Readers,  with  explanatory  notes  in 
French  and  reform  exercises,  at  4d.  each : 

Balzac :   Un  Episode  sous  la  Terreur. 

Erckmann-Chatrian :  Le  Trtsor  du  Vieux 
Seigneur. 

Erckmann-Chatrian :  Histoire  d}un  Consent  de 
1813. 

Nodier :  Le  Chateau  de  Ghismondo. 
To'pffer :  L' Affaire  des  Contrebandiers. 
Varigny :  U$Uphant  Blanc. 
Voltaire  et  Diderot :  Conies  choisis. 
Le  Monde  ou  Von  se  bat. 


132          A  Classified  List  of  Books 

Readers,  with  explanatory  notes  in  French, 
suitable  for  rapid  reading : 

Jetta  S.  Wolff :  Pour  la  Patrie,  et  autres  conies 
d'enfants.  Is.  4d. 

Jetta  S.  Wolff :  L'Homme  Vert,  et  autres  conies 
defies.  Is.  4d. 

Readers  in  dramatic  form : 

CUmence  Saunois :  L' Entente  Cordiale  a  la  Cam- 
pagne.     Is.  6d. 

Souvestre :  Three  Short  Plays  (2nd  ed.).   Especially 
suitable  for  Girls.     Is.  6d. 

/.    S.    Walters:     Episodes    en    Action.      With 
phonetic  transcription.     Is.  4d. 

Lilian  Ping :  Jeux  Franqais.     Is.  4d. 

Books  dealing  particularly  with  French 
Life  and  Ways  and  serving  to  extend 
the  vocabulary: 

F.  R.  Robert:  Features  of  French  Life.  Illus- 
trated. Part  I.  (3rd  ed.),  Part  II.  (2nd 
ed.).  Is.  each. 

Lilian  Ping :  Tableaux  Mouvants.  In  dramatic 
form.  Is.  4d- 

A  Picture  Vocabulary.  By  WALTER  EIPPMANN. 
In  two  series.  300  pictures,  with  text. 
Is.  4d.  each  volume ;  2s.  6d.  the  two 
volumes  in  one. 


A  Classified  List  of  Books          133 

Free  Composition : 

Miss  L.  M.  Bull :  Easy  Free  Composition  in  French 
(3rd  ed.).  Is.  4d. 

Phonetics : 

Lectures-didoes.  In  phonetic  transcription  and 
ordinary  spelling,  with  copious  notes.  By 
L.  BASCAN.  Is. 

Grammar : 

Premiere  Grammaire  Franchise  (8th  ed.,  complet- 
ing 44,500  copies).  By  H.  E.  BERTHON.  2s. 

First  Exercises  in  French  Grammar  (7th  ed., 
completing  29,000  copies).  By  Miss  F.  M.  S. 
BATCHELOR.  Is.  4d. 

La  Grammaire  en  Histoires.  Illustrated.  By 
K.  GUERRA  and  C.  CHICOTEAU.  2s. 

A  French  Verb  Exercise  Book.  By  Miss  C.  F. 
SHEARSON.  A  practical  means  of  securing  a 
knowledge  of  French  verbs.  9d.  net. 

French  Verbs.  Printed  in  tabular  form  on  a 
large  sheet.  By  S.  WILD.  6d.  net. 

FOR  OLDER  PUPILS: 

Reader,  with  explanatory  notes  and  re- 
form exercises : 

Fables  de  la  Fontaine  (2nd  ed.).  By  T.  KEEN. 
With  an  Introduction  to  French  Prosody. 
Is.  6d. 


134          A  Classified  List  of  Books 

Short  readers,  with  explanatory  notes  in 
French  and  reform  exercises,  at  6d.  each : 

Taine  et  Rambeau :  Le  XIXe  Sikh. 

La  Revolution  Franqaise. 

Mussel :  Un  merle  blanc. 

Fe'nelon:  TSUmaque. 

V.  Hugo :  Le  Bienvenu  (from  Les  Mise'rables). 

At  4d.  each: 

V.  Hugo :  La  Cour  des  Miracles. 

Michelet :  Louis  XI  et  Charles  le  Te'me'raire. 

Readers,  with  explanatory  notes  in  French  : 

V.  Hugo :  Les  Feuilles  d'Automne.     Is.  4d. 
La  Bruyere  :  Caracteres.     Is.  6d. 
Dumas :  La  Tulipe  Noire.    Is.  6d. 
Sainte-Beuve :  Profils  Anglais.     Is.  6d. 
Mtrimde  :  Colomba.     \s.  6d. 

Readers  dealing  with  French  History,  Life, 
and  Ways: 

Histoire  de  France :  I.,  Les  Premiers  Franqais. 
By  E.  ALEC  WOOLF.     Illustrated.     2s. 

J.    Duhamel :    Tony    et  sa    Sceur   en    France. 

2s.  6d.  net. 
R.  Kron :  French  Daily  Life  (7th  ed.).    2s.  6d. 

net. 


A  Classified  List  of  Books          135 

Plain  Texts  at  3d.  net  each : 

THE  BEST  FRENCH  PROSE. 

1.  Mtrime'e:  Le  Coup  de  Pistolet,  L'Enlevement 

de  la  Bedoute,  Tamango. 

2.  Vigny :  Laurette  ou  le  Cachet  Eouge. 

3.  Maistre :  La  Jeune  Sibdrienne. 

4.  Souvestre  :  Le  Serf. 

5.  Chateaubriand :  Le  Dernier  Abencerage. 

6.  Balzac :  LyAuberge  Eouge. 

THE  BEST  FRENCH  PLAYS. 

1.  Sedaine  :  Le  Philosophe  sans  le  savoir. 

2.  Musset :  On  ne  saurait  penser  a  tout. 

3.  Mme  de  Girardin :  La  Joie  fait  peur. 

4.  Labiche :  La  Gramrrmre. 

5.  Labiche  et  Martin :  Le  Voyage  de  M.  Perrichon. 

6.  Marivaux :  Le  Jeu  de  V Amour  et  du  Hasard. 

THE  BEST  FRENCH  POETRY.    [Beady  January 
1914.] 

1.  Petite  Anthologie  du  16e  Siecle. 

2.  La  Fontaine  :  Fables. 

3.  Lamartine :  Podsies. 

4.  Victor  Hugo :  Poesies 

5.  Musset :  Podsies. 

6.  Gautier:  Poe'sies. 

Free  Composition : 

A.   Philibert  and  A.  Pratt:  Free  Composition  and 
Essaywriting  in  French  (3rd  ed.).    la.  4d. 


136          A  Classified  List  of  Books 

Grammar : 

Further  Exercises  in  French  Grammar  (3rd  ed.). 
By  Miss  F.  M.  S.  BATCHELOR.  Is.  id.  Key, 
2s.  6d.  net. 

A  School  Grammar  of  Modern  French  (2nd  ed.). 
With  special  sections  dealing  with  the  seven- 
teenth century.  By  G.  H.  CLARKE  and  C.  J. 
MURRAY.  3s.  6d.  net. 

Outlines  of  French  Historical  Grammar.  With 
representative  French  texts.  By  A.  T. 
BAKER.  3s.  6d.  net. 

DICTIONARY: 

Larousse :  Dictionnaire  Complet  Illustrt  de  la 
Langue  Francaise.  2s.  6d.  net. 

PHONETICS: 

Elements  of  Phonetics :  English,  French,  and 
German  (5th  ed.).  Translated  and  adapted  by 
WALTER  KIPPMANN  from  Professor  Victor's 
Kleine  Phonetik.  2s.  6d.  net. 

Elements  of  French  Pronunciation  and  Diction 
(2nd  ed.).  By  B.  DUMVILLE.  2s.  6d.  net. 

Manuel  Pratique  de  Pronunciation  et  de  Lecture 
Franqaises.  By  L.  BASCAN.  2s.  6d. 

A  French  Phonetic  Reader  (2nd  ed.).  By  S.  A. 
KICHARDS.  Is.  6d. 


TURNBULL  AND  SPEARS,   PRINTERS.   EDINBURGH 


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